INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Book Aid International: Finance

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development for what reason the Government have not continued to provide funding for Book Aid International beyond 31 March.

Gareth Thomas: DFID (and formally the Overseas Development Administration) has been providing substantial core funding to Book Aid International (BAI) for over 30 years. In 2004 BAI were made aware that DFID planned for a phased reduction in its support. However to allow BAI time to continue its efforts to diversify its sources of funding, we agreed, exceptionally, to provide further funding amounting to £0.85 million over three years in support of their three-year business plan.
	This time-bound grant funding has now come to an end. However, we have in the past few years regularly encouraged BAI to apply for DFID funding that is available to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) through our Civil Society Challenge Fund and Partnership Programme Agreements. While we recognise that there is strong competition among NGOs for the resources available we do hope that BAI will apply.
	As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor said in his reply to the hon. Member for Ludlow on 10 May 2007,  Official Report, columns 287-88, this Government have doubled the amount of money invested in schools, teachers, books and education generally in areas of Africa where BAI operate. We believe that BAI's knowledge and experience of books provision and library services in Africa after many years of DFID funding will continue to help Governments develop library and information services, and that they will remain an important development partner in the region.

Departments: Manpower

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff funded by the public purse in his Department are classified as people without posts.

Gareth Thomas: There are six staff within DFID who are currently between postings. All have access to information on available vacancies, and are provided with support to ensure that they obtain a permanent posting as quickly as possible. In the meantime, they will be engaged on short-term, temporary or project work which makes best use of their skills and knowledge, and which reduces the need to use agency staff or consultants.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what the total value of private finance initiative projects included in his Department's balance sheet  (a) is in 2007 and  (b) was in each of the last five years, broken down by project;
	(2)  what the value was of annual private finance initiative payments made by his Department from  (a) capital and  (b) revenue budgets in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what value of annual private finance initiative payments by his Department was classified as  (a) identifiable and  (b) non-identifiable in each of the last five years, broken down by project;
	(4)  what value of annual private finance initiative (PFI) payments was  (a) to repay capital and  (b) expenditure on other parts of each PFI contract in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has had no private finance initiative projects in the last five years.

Food Aid: Children

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to encourage other bilateral and multilateral donors to provide funding for tackling child hunger and malnutrition.

Gareth Thomas: At the core of DFID's mission is a commitment to support developing countries to realise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Action on child hunger and malnutrition is reflected in the first goal. Much current bilateral and multilateral aid will impact positively on child nutrition, investment in education, primary health care, water and sanitation, job creation, and rural livelihoods. DFID multilateral contributions in 2005-06 which impact positively on child nutrition include contributions to the UN Development Programme (UNDP)—£52.7 million, UNICEF—£32.4 million, World Food Programme—£5 million, and to the Food and Agricultural Organisation—£4.8 million.
	DFID strongly encourages other donors to fulfil the commitments made at Gleneagles and the UN Millennium summit to provide more aid to achieve the MDGs, including MDG 1 (which includes child hunger and malnutrition).
	DFID will issue a new health strategy in June. Part of this strategy will be to carry out a policy review on our approach to child malnutrition.

World Bank

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if the Government will make it their policy to establish an open and merit-based selection process for the President of the World Bank.

Hilary Benn: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 May 2007,  Official Report, column 13W.

TRANSPORT

Aviation: Compensation

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will reissue the recent guidance on the rules governing compensation for air passengers within the EU, ensuring that the rights of UK passengers are made clearer.

Gillian Merron: The Air Transport Users Council (AUC) is the body designated under UK law to handle complaints pertaining to Regulation (EC) 261/2004 ("the Regulation"). Guidance for UK passengers on their rights under the regulation is available on the AUC's website at www.caa.co.uk/auc.
	The European Commission has published an updated poster setting out passengers' rights which will be displayed in airports in due course.

Bus Services: Concessions

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the specifications for the planned standard national concessionary bus travel pass will be compatible with the Oyster and Smartcard systems operated in London.

Gillian Merron: holding answer 18 May 2007
	Subject to a forthcoming consultation and discussions with suppliers, it is anticipated that we will require the national concessionary bus travel pass for England to be an ITSO compliant smartcard.
	In May 2006 the Mayor of London and Secretary of State for Transport agreed that the Oyster network would be made interoperable with ITSO smartcards. A technical solution to achieve this is under development.

Shipping: Radioactive Materials

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what bilateral agreements with  (a) other European Union States,  (b) Norway and  (c) Russia are in place to provide emergency response to an incident in their waters involving a vessel carrying plutonium-based MOX fuel being moved from Sellafield.

Stephen Ladyman: Companies operating ships used to transport MOX are required to have a shipboard emergency plan which would be activated in the event of an incident. The plan may involve contractual agreements with overseas organisations to provide assistance but are not dependent on the existence of bilateral agreements between the UK government and other states.

Wolverton Station: Repairs and Maintenance

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who made the decision to reduce the funding available for the upgrade of Wolverton Station from £2 million to £400,000.

Tom Harris: The award of financial support to Milton Keynes council, under the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) was not specific as to the division between the amounts for Milton Keynes Central and Wolverton stations. This was for the local authority to determine, in agreement with Network Rail.

Wolverton Station: Repairs and Maintenance

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider extending the deadline of 31 March 2008 for the use of the grant for the upgrade of Wolverton Station.

Tom Harris: No. One of the specific conditions attached to the award of financial support from the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) was that such assistance must be used by 31 March 2008. This has been consistently made clear throughout the whole process and has been accepted by Milton Keynes council.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departments: Billing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2007,  Official Report, column 890-91W, on Departments: billing, if he will instruct all Northern Ireland departments to maintain a record of discounts  (a) offered on bills from suppliers and  (b) received.

Peter Hain: This matter is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.

Prisons: Health Services

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many health care workers were employed at each prison establishment in Northern Ireland in each of the last six years, broken down by type.

Paul Goggins: Two types of Prison Service staff provide health care functions. Nurse officers who were recruited directly as health care professionals, and health care officers who are discipline prison officers with additional training and specialise in the health care function. Agency staff are used to address shortfalls in staffing levels, but these are not included in the number of staff in post.
	The information requested is outlined in the following tables.
	
		
			  Health care staff in post at 31 March 2002 
			   Establishment  
			  Grade  Maghaberry  Magilligan  Hydebank  Total 
			 Principal officer 1 0 1 2 
			 Senior officer 6 1 1 8 
			 Officer 50 12 8 70 
			 Pharmacy officer 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 57 13 10 80 
		
	
	
		
			  Health care staff in post at 31 March 2003 
			   Establishment  
			  Grade  Maghaberry  Magilligan  Hydebank  Total 
			 Principal officer 1 0 1 2 
			 Senior officer 7 1 0 8 
			 Officer 44.5 12 9 65.5 
			 Pharmacy officer 1 0 0 1 
			 Total 53.5 13 10 76.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Health care staff in post at 31 March 2004 
			   Establishment  
			  Grade  Maghaberry  Magilligan  Hydebank  Total 
			 Principal officer 1 0 0 1 
			 Senior officer 4 1 1 6 
			 Officer 40.5 13 8 61.5 
			 Pharmacy officer 1 0 0 1 
			 Total 46.5 14 9 69.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Health care staff in post at 31 March 2005 
			   Establishment  
			  Grade  Maghaberry  Magilligan  Hydebank  Total 
			 Principal officer 1 0 0 1 
			 Senior officer 4 1 1 6 
			 Officer 36 12.5 10 58.5 
			 Pharmacy officer 1 0 0 1 
			 Total 42 13.5 11 66.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Health care staff in post at 31 March 2006 
			   Establishment  
			  Grade  Maghaberry  Magilligan  Hydebank  Total 
			 Principal officer 1 L 0 1 
			 Senior officer 4 1 1 6 
			 Officer 43 14 13 70 
			 Pharmacy officer 1 0 0 1 
			 Total 49 15 14 78 
		
	
	
		
			  Health care staff in post at 31 March 2007 
			   Establishment  
			  Grade  Maghaberry  Magilligan  Hydebank  Total 
			 Principal officer 0 0 0 0 
			 Senior officer 4 1 1 6 
			 Officer 41.5 13 13 67.5 
			 Pharmacy officer 1 0 0 1 
			 Total 46.5 14 14 74.5

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Animals: Imports

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which public body is responsible for stopping ruminants from northern France being landed at Dover.

Ben Bradshaw: Animal Health (formerly known as the State Veterinary Service) is responsible for monitoring imports of animals into the UK.

Beef: Prices

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what change there has been in beef prices paid to farmers in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 17 May 2007
	The average price to farmers in England and Wales for finished cattle (steers, heifers and young bulls) is the same in the week ending 9 May 2007 as one year previously at 108 pence per kilo. The average price over the 12 month period was 111 pence per kilo.

Biodiversity: Moths

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the potential impact on biodiversity of trends in the numbers of common species of moths.

Barry Gardiner: No detailed assessment has been made of the potential impact on biodiversity of trends in the numbers of common species of moths. Recent research indicates that more species of common moths are in decline than are increasing in numbers, probably largely due to changes in land use and the effects of climate change. The roles that moths play in the functioning of ecosystems and biodiversity are known to be significant, because moths are generally abundant, and they have important food chain links with plants, bats and birds.

Biofuels

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the rules governing the exemptions to the Waste Management Regulations on  (a) the development of biogas facilities and  (b) the production of energy via commercial anaerobic digestion.

Ben Bradshaw: No specific assessment has been made by my Department.
	DEFRA has started a comprehensive review of exemptions from waste management licensing and has produced a discussion document on the options and issues. The review will take a risk-based approach to the provision of exemptions and will ultimately complement the environmental permitting regime, which is due to come into force in April 2008. My Department will be formally consulting on proposals and representations will be invited from all sectors of industry affected by the proposed regulations.
	In order to encourage the greater uptake of anaerobic digestion, I am also pleased that the Environment Agency has agreed to develop a standard for digestate in 2007-08. This will allow modern regulatory principles to be applied to the use of this material and bring certainty to when it is considered to be "fully recovered". This should help to facilitate the development of markets for digestate.

Bluetongue Disease

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what checks are in place to prevent ruminants being transported to the UK from those parts of northern France in which blue tongue is prevalent.

Ben Bradshaw: In accordance with EU legislation, susceptible animals travelling from or through a bluetongue restricted area are permitted only if the member state of destination—and transit as applicable—gives prior authorisation for the animals to enter their country. DEFRA currently does not authorise imports of animals originating from bluetongue affected areas, or those that have been moved through an affected area.
	Within the UK, all susceptible animals imported from bluetongue-free member states (not including Ireland) are post-import tested for the bluetongue virus.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what  (a) meetings and  (b) consultations his Department held on bovine tuberculosis and badger culling policy in August 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Ministers and officials met with various organisations in August 2006 as part of the course of business and discussed a variety of important matters, including bovine TB and badger culling.

Bovine Tuberculosis

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what advice he has received from the Central Science Laboratory on the efficacy of a badger cull to counteract bovine TB;
	(2)  if he will publish the results of research commissioned by his Department on the relationship between badger numbers and the incidence of bovine TB.

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA publishes the final reports of all its research projects as soon as possible following project completion and review of the project report. Published final reports are available on the DEFRA website at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/research/projects.htm.
	The Central Science Laboratory (CSL) provided an estimate of trapping efficacy of 20-60 per cent. in the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, based on available data and their expert opinion, for DEFRA's 2006 consultation document on badger culling. The CSL has since revised those estimates upwards to 35-85 per cent. in the light of further data provided by the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB. The revised estimates are to be published in a paper in the 26 May issue of the Veterinary Record.

Coastal Areas

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the contribution to the rural economy of coastal walking routes and national trails.

Barry Gardiner: Research carried out during 2004-05 for the Countryside Agency (now part of Natural England) estimates that 12 million visits are paid to the National Trail network in England each year. In 2003, the Countryside Agency and the South West of England Regional Development Agency commissioned research to mark the Silver Jubilee of the 630 mile long South West Coastal Path. The principal aim of the research was to assess the economic value of the Path. The results of the research indicated that the Path generated about £307 million a year for the region's economy.
	We are currently considering Natural England's report on coastal access and will shortly launch a public consultation document inviting views on ways for improving access. On the same day, we will publish a partial regulatory impact assessment and the research study which we commissioned looking at the benefits and costs of each of the options. The research includes an assessment of the benefits to local economies and levels of expenditure by people using a number of the national trails.

Coastal Areas: Access

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Government's commitment to improving access to the coast includes improving access to all private beaches.

Barry Gardiner: Natural England's recent report on coastal access recommended that new legislation should be introduced to enable it to align a "coastal access corridor", including the vast majority of beaches, around the whole coast.
	We will decide how best to improve access to beaches in the light of responses to the public consultation on improving access to the coast.

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department holds on  (a) fines and  (b) prosecutions implemented relating to Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA does not hold the information requested.
	Data on noise prosecutions are collected and held by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

Flowers: Conservation

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps have been taken by his Department since May 2005  (a) to protect wild flower meadows and  (b) to encourage the planting of wild flowers.

Barry Gardiner: The UK Biodiversity Action Plan helps to co-ordinate work at national and local levels by identifying priorities for action and setting biological targets for the recovery of habitats and species, including wildflowers.
	Flower meadows are benefiting from at least 10 awards made under the Countdown 2010 Biodiversity Action Fund. This scheme is administered by Natural England, but the funding, £1.95 million in both 2006-07 and 2007-08, is provided by DEFRA.
	We also encourage structured wild flower establishment through the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme, the support of education/information sources like Flora Locale, and highly targeted re-establishment programmes for particular endangered taxa. These include the ongoing restoration of Lady's Slipper Orchid to 12 sites across northern England.

Fly-Tipping

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which 10 areas of the UK had the highest number of fly-tipping incidents in 2006-07 according to the Flycapture database.

Ben Bradshaw: Data for 2006-07 from Flycapture, the national fly-tipping database, will be published in the summer.
	The areas in England with the highest number of fly-tipping incidents recorded in 2005-06 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number  Local authority  Incident number 
			 1 Liverpool city council 1,249,527 
			 2 London borough of Wandsworth 166,195 
			 3 Sheffield city council 161,898 
			 4 London borough of Haringey 63,767 
			 5 Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea 58,374 
			 6 Manchester city council 30,818 
			 7 Birmingham city council 25,782 
			 8 London borough of Southwark 24,852 
			 9 London borough of Lewisham 18,987 
			 10 Portsmouth city council 18,883 
		
	
	These data reflect the particular circumstances of the local authority area. As a result of Best Value Performance Indicator 199d on fly-tipping, local authorities are now being monitored for their performance in reducing overall incident numbers and increasing the amount of enforcement activity, year-on-year. Flycapture was always intended to be a management information tool to help target action, rather than to produce 'league tables'.

Greyhounds

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures he is taking to stop greyhounds being killed or abandoned when their use as sporting dogs is over.

Ben Bradshaw: The is no law to prevent the humane euthanasia of a greyhound when its racing career has finished.
	The Animal Welfare Act 2006 strengthened the law on the abandonment of animals by introducing an offence of failing to provide for the welfare needs of an animal. This applies to owners and keepers of all animals, including racing and retired greyhounds.
	The Act also allows regulations to be made to promote the welfare of animals for which a person is responsible. The Government are committed to introducing new regulations to protect the welfare of racing greyhounds. We understand that the industry is making significant steps in improving the number of greyhounds which are re-homed, although more needs to be done. We would like more action to taken by the industry to ensure that the number of dogs used in racing matches the number that can be re-homed at the end of their career.

Nature Conservation

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of species which became extinct in England in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1135W.

Non-Food Environmental Grazing Animals

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of environmental grazing  (a) cattle and  (b) sheep used for land maintenance rather than for food production purposes in England.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 17 May 2007
	Data are not collected on the number of cattle and sheep used for environmental grazing rather than food production. However, many animals used for food production will also help maintain or enhance the environment.

Site of Special Scientific Interest

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the condition was of each site of special scientific interest (SSSI) in each year since 1997; and what the total land area of SSSIs was in each category in England in each  (a) region and  (b) location.

Barry Gardiner: There are 4,113 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England covering 1,076,543 hectares. Each SSSI is subdivided into one or more units for the purposes of management and assessing condition. In total there are about 22,000 SSSI units and the latest information on the condition of each is available on the Natural England website at:
	http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/sssi/search.cfm
	The following table summarises the condition of SSSIs in England by year and by Government region. The first six-year monitoring cycle was completed in October 2003, and it is therefore only possible to provide accurate figures for the overall condition of SSSIs from then on.
	
		
			  Area and proportion of SSSIs in Target Condition( 1)  in England's Government regions from 2003 to 2007 
			   31 October 2003  31 March 2004  31 March 2005  31 March 2006  31 March 2007 
			  Government region  Area( 2)  Percentage  Area( 2)  Percentage  Area( 2)  Percentage  Area( 2)  Percentage  Area( 2)  Percentage 
			 Eastern 96,575 75.9 100,321 76.6 100,770 77.2 101,321 78.7 99,458 77.2 
			 East Midlands 52,736 50.9 55,407 48.8 58,700 52.3 71,743 68.5 73,057 69.7 
			 London 2,615 68.8 2,431 63.5 2,284 59.7 2,668 70.1 2,705 70.4 
			 North East 46,024 41.9 50,643 46.2 54,782 50.8 58,381 53.6 70,594 64.3 
			 North West 124,745 59.2 139,584 67.3 157,684 77.4 169,348 81.8 173,199 83.6 
			 South East 86,691 65.6 89,272 67.0 93,099 70.0 105,021 78.6 108,931 80.1 
			 South West 115,527 68.0 120,935 71.4 127,810 75.6 133,260 78.9 133,012 78.7 
			 West Midlands 14,834 55.9 16,986 62.0 17,972 65.7 19,004 71.6 18,908 71.0 
			 Yorkshire/Humber 72,994 43.6 99,452 55.7 105,846 58.9 113,360 60.1 129,992 68.9 
			 Total 612,741 58.3 675,032 62.9 718,947 67.4 774,105 72.3 809,857 75.4 
			 (1) 'Target Condition' encompasses the condition categories of favourable and unfavourable recovering. (2) Hectares.

Beef

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which countries refuse to import UK beef.

Barry Gardiner: We are currently able to export UK beef to EU member states and Barbados. My Department is working closely with the UK industry to identify priority non-EU export markets. DEFRA, with the support of Foreign and Commonwealth Office overseas posts, is negotiating the health conditions under which UK beef may be exported to these priority non-EU markets.

Waste and Resources Action Programme

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how much the Waste and Resources Action Programme spent on  (a) salaries and  (b) bonuses in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how much the Waste and Resources Action Programme spent on administration in each year since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 14 May 2007
	The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) was established in December 2000 with funding from DEFRA, the Department of Trade and Industry and the devolved assemblies.
	The data requested are published in WRAP'S annual reports (available on their website) and are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Salaries 1,295,000 2,357,000 4,049,000 6,577,000 8,564,000 
			 Bonuses — 13,500 — 39,000 63,000 
			 Administration costs 2,226,000 1,131,000 1,592,000 1,563,000 2,595,000 
		
	
	Salaries are benchmarked against those in similar sized organisations and bonuses are paid to executive directors based on achievement of specific objectives aligned with WRAP'S goals.
	WRAP is part funded through the landfill tax.
	WRAP'S annual account and report for 2006-07 has not yet been published.

Whales: Conservation

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will continue to support anti-whaling measures internationally.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 18 May 2007
	 The UK has been, and will remain, at the forefront of the fight to ensure that the anti-whaling countries' attempts to restart commercial whaling and to reduce the level of protection afforded to cetacean species around the world do not succeed.
	The UK will again be one of the few countries represented by a minister, my hon. Friend the Minister for Biodiversity (Barry Gardiner), at this month's International Whaling Commission meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. The UK's key aim will be to resist any attempts to end the moratorium on commercial whaling, or otherwise weaken the Commission's conservation agenda.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Australia: Trade

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the primary  (a) imported and  (b) exported goods and services are between the UK and (i) Australia and (ii) New Zealand.

Ian McCartney: For trade in goods with Australia and New Zealand, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 12 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 72-75W.
	Table 9.11 of the ONS UK Balance of Payments Pink Book indicate that leading UK services imports from Australia in 2005 were travel at £999 million and transportation at £438 million out of a total of £1,808 million. Leading UK services exports to Australia in 2005 were transportation at £855 million and travel at £663 million out of a total of £2,584 million.
	No similar breakdown is available for New Zealand of the total UK imports of services of £497 million in 2005 and exports of £391 million. Using International Trade In Services data for 2005, UK imports of travel services from New Zealand were £388 million, while exports of travel services to New Zealand were £141 million; it is likely that transportation services were a significant proportion of the remainder.

Beer

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will bring forward proposals for legislation on the availability of guest beers in public houses.

Ian McCartney: The Supply of Beer (Tied Estate) (Revocation) Order 2002 repealed the earlier Orders which provided that brewers and brewery groups owning more than 2,000 licensed premises allow their "tied" premises to sell a draught cask-conditioned beer and, a bottle-conditioned beer, supplied by someone else.
	A statutory requirement on pubcos to allow all tied tenants the option of offering a guest would run contrary to EU competition law and could lead to the UK Government being challenged in the European Courts.
	It is, therefore, a matter for the parties during detailed contract negotiations to discuss and agree beer supplies which may include guest beers or rights to directly source some or all of their beer supplies
	The ability of public houses to offer a broader range of products, for example to satisfy demand for local products, is important in the interests of extending consumer choice.

Beer

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he plans to take to improve access to markets for small brewers.

Ian McCartney: The beer market is subject to the same competition regime as any other market.
	A statutory requirement on pubcos to allow all tied tenants the option of offering a guest beer of a particular type, for example cask ales and regional or national specialities, would run contrary to EU competition law and could lead to the UK Government being challenged in the European Courts.
	However, the ability of public houses to offer a broader range of products, for example to satisfy demand for local products, is important in the interests of extending consumer choice.
	The Government have taken steps to help small brewers. The Beer from Small Breweries (Extension of Reduced Rates of Excise Duty) Order 2004 was introduced especially to assist small brewers through reduced rates of excise duty for beer from breweries producing up to 60,000 hectolitres of beer a year.

Beer

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will review the appropriateness of the system whereby public houses are tied to a pub company or brewer; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: While some particular regulatory arrangements do apply to the wholesale beer market, for example in relation to excise duty, the market is also subject to the same competition regime as any other. The independent competition authorities, namely the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC), enforce fair competition, rather than the Government.
	This market was last considered in July 2005 when the OFT announced that it would not initiate such an investigation, commenting that
	"The market for the supply of beer [...] has been extensively examined in recent years by the OFT and the CC. It has been found to be broadly competitive and in a process of development."

Business: EC Law

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the timetable is for the implementation of the Unfair Commercial Practices Regulations; and whether the UK will be subject to EU sanctions for failing to meet the EU deadline for implementation.

Ian McCartney: On 29 May I will be launching a consultation seeking views on draft Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations to implement the unfair commercial practices directive. The Regulations will be made in the autumn to come into force on 6 April 2008.
	Short delays in implementing complex EU directives is not uncommon and I do not expect this to lead to the European Commission bringing any action against the UK.

Clothing: Fire Prevention

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which items of nightwear are covered by the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985; whether boys' pyjamas are covered by the regulations; what plans there are to review the coverage of the regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: The Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 apply to nightwear including garments commonly worn as nightwear such as nightdresses, dressing gowns, bath robes and similar items. Children's pyjamas do not have to comply with the flammability standard of the regulations, but they must carry a permanent label with the wording 'Keep Away From Fire' in red letters if they do not. The regulations do not distinguish between boys' and girls' pyjamas, and are already the most stringent in Europe—most member states have no legislation in this area. There are no current plans, therefore, to review these regulations. In addition, manufacturers of clothing, including pyjamas, that do not meet the flammability standard of the regulations have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe under The General Product Safety Regulations 2005. Taken together, these regulations provide adequate flammability safety for children's nightwear in the UK.

Clothing: Fire Prevention

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the current law is relating to the flammability of pyjamas for children; and whether the rules are the same for boys' and girls' pyjamas.

Ian McCartney: The Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985 apply to nightwear including garments commonly worn as nightwear. Children's pyjamas do not have to comply with the flammability standard of the regulations, but they must carry a permanent label with the wording 'Keep Away From Fire' in red letters if they do not. The regulations do not distinguish between boys' and girls' pyjamas. Manufacturers of pyjamas that do not meet the flammability standard of the regulations have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe under The General Product Safety Regulations 2005.

Industrial Democracy

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate has been made of the likely annual cost to businesses with 50 to 150 employees of compliance with the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations from 6 April 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The regulatory impact assessment prepared during the implementation of the Regulations estimated the aggregated annual cost to enterprises with 50 to 150 employees of adopting or changing information and consultation procedures to comply with the Regulations to be between £3.18 million and £6.6 million in 2008; £2.78 million and £6.2 million in 2009, 2010 and 2011; and £2.78 million and £4.7 million in 2012.

Research Councils: Finance

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding his Department allocated to the  (a) Arts and Humanities Research Council,  (b) Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council,  (c) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council,  (d) Economic and Social Research Council,  (e) Medical Research Council,  (f) National Environment Research Council and  (g) Science and Technology Facilities Council in each of the last 10 years.

Malcolm Wicks: The funding for the Research Councils from the Department of Trade and Industry in each of the last 10 years was as follows:
	
		
			  Science Budget Allocations from 1997-98 to 2006-07 
			  Programme  1997-98( a)  1998-99( a)  1999-2000( a)  2000-01( a)  2001-02( b)  2002-03( b)  2003-04( b)  2004-05( b)  2005-06( b)  2006-07( b) 
			  Research Councils:   
			 Arts and Humanities Research Council(c) — — — — — — — — 80.5 91.4 
			 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council 183.3 185.7 198.3 203.0 214.0 232.6 265.0 287.6 336.2 371.6 
			 Economic and Social Research Council 64.9 66.0 69.8 71.2 74.4 82.8 94.6 105.3 123.5 142.5 
			 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 386.4 383.0 397.6 410.9 436.2 461.5 468.5 497.3 568.2 636.3 
			 Medical Research Council 289.1 290.2 304.5 319.2 349.6 371.9 429.9 455.3 478.8 503.5 
			 Natural Environment Research Council 165.1 168.8 178.5 181.8 192.9 205.4 264.1 314.3 334.0 359.4 
			 Science and Technology Facilities Council(d) 193.3 195.7 198.3 217.7 233.7 248.5 414.5 482.8 511.4 533.8 
			 Research Councils 1,282.1 1,289.4 1,347.0 1,403.6 1,500.8 1,602.8 1,936.6 2,142.5 2,432.6 2,638.4 
			 (a) The allocation for financial years 1997-98 to 2000-01 are on a cash basis. (b) The allocations for financial years 2001-02 onwards are on a resource accounting and budgeting basis. (c) AHRC did not become the responsibility of the Department of Trade and Industry until 1 April 2005. (d) The Science and Technology Facilities Council was created on 1 April 2007 through the merger of two separate Research Councils—the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council. The figures here are the consolidated allocations of those two Research Councils.  Note: The figures have been obtained from the allocations booklet.

Seals: Animal Products

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will set out a timetable for the introduction of a national ban on seal products; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: holding answer 18 May 2007
	The Government have no plans to introduce a national ban as operation of the EU single market means that only an EU-wide import ban would be effective.

DEFENCE

Ammunition: Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what type of munitions were fired in Iraq by  (a) 20 Armed Brigade and  (b) 19 Light Brigade in each month of their deployment.

Adam Ingram: The number and type of munitions fired in Iraq by 20 Armoured Brigade and 19 Light Brigade in each month of their deployment is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   20 Armoured brigade  19 Light brigade 
			  Commodity  May  June  July  Aug.  Sept.  Oct.  Nov.  Dec.  Jan.  Feb.  Mar. 
			 RD 5.56MM BALL CTN L2 SA80 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 107 1 1 0 
			 RD 5.56MM BALL BDR L2 SA80 7,896 959 1,961 7,445 15,975 1,750 6,380 2,783 1,450 3,417 1,977 
			 RD 5.56MM TRA CTN 10 0 3 70 895 555 6 57 917 0 33 
			 RD 5.56MM 4B/1T BDR SA80 741 1,175 404 2,316 13,063 1,771 1,050 1,255 338 1,604 762 
			 RD5.56MM4B/1T MINIMI 396 322 3,166 22,450 21,697 11,251 965 2,550 1,341 2,924 2,426 
			 RD 7.62MM BALL SNPR L42A1 8 7 0 13 497 81 15 53 19 229 114 
			 RD7.62MM4B/1TBTD 551 0 0 1,924 8,022 539 4,809 922 1,968 1,864 815 
			 RD7.62MM1B/1TBTD 790 3,275 5,893 2,865 2,016 2,604 2 1,006 1 2,560 7,277 
			 RD 8.59MM BALL CTN L1 (OR 0.338IN LAPUA BALL) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 
			 RD9MMBALLCTNL18 24 13 83 788 311 47 842 371 0 1,224 15 
			 RKT H/F ILLUM PARA L5 74 58 5 6 246 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 RKT H/F PARA ILLUM L12 224 191 247 485 342 722 412 258 132 138 158 
			 SIG KIT 16MM PYRO PISTOL WHITE 14 0 0 3 8 78 9 12 0 16 12 
			 SIG KIT 16MM PYRO PISTOL GREEN 7 0 0 3 9 3 0 0 1 0 1 
			 SIG KIT 16MM PYRO PISTOL RED 4 1 1 4 9 4 1 4 1 2 5 
			 FLARE TRIPWIRE KIT L10A1 23 84 7 24 53 18 0 0 51 16 23 
			 GREN HD SIG SMK GREEN L68 35 0 2 2 26 6 3 14 3 11 14 
			 GREN HD SIG SMK ORANGE L69 6 3 4 2 20 5 0 8 0 23 13 
			 GREN HD SIG SMK RED L70 17 9 7 14 65 61 2 33 22 21 40 
			 GREN HD SIG SMK BLUE L71 0 0 5 2 19 9 7 7 20 1 93 
			 GREN HD SIG SMK PURPLE L101 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 3 4 
			 RD 40X 46MM HEDP 11 16 31 6 36 27 2 3 9 20 20 
			 RD 40 X 46 MM HE FRAG GREN 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3 0 0 
			 GREN HAND HE L1 09 1 2 5 1 26 2 0 0 1 2 2 
			 MOR BOMB 51 MM ILLUM L16 35 4 38 40 11 86 60 0 29 21 3 
			 MOR BOMB 81 MM ILLUM L39 655 234 672 485 209 453 64 60 96 268 0 
			 MOR BOMB 81 MM HE L41 8 35 17 5 0 40 0 0 0 1 0 
			 RD 30MM HE 0 16 69 1 10 22 0 6 24 66 22 
			 105MM HE FZD L1 16A1 W/CART NORM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 74 0 
			 RD A-RIOT 1 .5IN BATON L5 0 0 153 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 RD A-RIOT 37MM BATON L21 206 36 10 34 144 64 4 112 0 17 24 
			 GRENHDDISTXL108 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 0 0 
			 GREN DSCHGR ANTI RIOT CS L96 0 0 6 6 4 0 0 0 o 0 0

Armed Forces: Apprentices

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many apprentices were recruited into the Defence and Communication Services Agency technical apprenticeship scheme at  (a) HMS Collingwood,  (b) RAF Henlow and  (c) Highbury College, Portsmouth in each year since 2003; what estimate he has made of the number of apprentices to be recruited in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The D E and S Information Systems and Services—formerly the Defence Communications Services Agency—ceased to recruit new apprentices at RAF Henlow and Highbury College in 2002. Since 2003, 16 Apprentices have been recruited each year for the scheme run at HMS Collingwood. Based on the estimated requirements of the D E and S Information Systems and Services, it is planned to recruit 12 new apprentices in 2007.

Armed Forces: Cadets

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1848W, on armed forces: cadets, when short service limited commissions were first introduced; and how many were granted since their introduction.

Derek Twigg: Records which would indicate when short service limited commissions were first introduced have not been retained, although this is believed to be roughly 30-40 years ago.
	The number of untrained officers who joined the Army on short service limited commissions between 1 April 1986, the earliest date for which information is available, and 31 March 2000, when these commissions were discontinued, is as follows:
	
		
			  Date of flow  Number 
			 1986-87 30 
			 1987-88 20 
			 1988-89 10 
			 1989-90 10 
			 1990-91 50 
			 1991-92 30 
			 1992-93 20 
			 1993-94 20 
			 1994-95 50 
			 1995-96 50 
			 1996-97 20 
			 1997-98 100 
			 1998-99 50 
			 1999-2000 80

Armed Forces: Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the strength is of  (a) Army Cadets,  (b) Air Cadets and  (c) Sea Cadets in Chorley.

Derek Twigg: As at 11 May 2007 the strength of the Sea Cadets was:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Cadets 12 years and over 42 
			 Junior Cadets 10-12 years 2 
			 Adults 14 
		
	
	The strength of the Army Cadets was:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Cadets 69 
			 Adults 5 
		
	
	The Strength of the Air Cadets was:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Air Cadets 45 
			 Adults 11

Armed Forces: Coroners

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the steps the Government are taking to reduce the backlog of military inquests for the fatalities of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 May 2007,  Official Report, column 381, to the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander).

Armed Forces: Deployment

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the armed forces are located outside the United Kingdom.

Derek Twigg: Location statistics may be compiled based on posted (stationed) location or deployed location. Posted (stationed) location is where an individual is permanently based. Deployed location is where an individual is physically located on operations at a particular point in time and is typically used for short tours of duty.
	As at 30 April 2007, 15,220 personnel were deployed on operations outside the UK.
	The strength of UK regular forces posted outside the UK is available in Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 6—Global Location of UK Regular Forces. However, due to the introduction of a new personnel administration system, TSP6 RAF location data for 1 April 2006 are provisional and subject to review, and after 1 April 2006 are not available. TSP6 naval service location data are not available after 1 October 2006.
	Copies of TSP 6 are available in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Officers

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on which occasions the  (a) Commander in Chief Land,  (b) General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland,  (c) Adjutant General and  (d) Chief of General Staff met journalists in the last 12 months.

Derek Twigg: In the period 27 April 2006 to 27 April 2007 neither the Commander in Chief Land nor the General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland had any formal meetings with journalists. In the same period the Chief of the General Staff and his predecessor met with journalists on nine occasions, as did the Adjutant-General. The breakdown for these meetings is as shown:
	 Chief of the General Staff
	15-18 May 2006—Richard Norton-Taylor, Stryker McGuire, William Shawcross and Sarah Sands—Iraq visit.
	25-28 June 2006—Robert Fox, Sarah Sands and Con Coughlin—Armed Forces Germany visit.
	1-4 September 2006—Sir Max Hastings and Ron Moreau—Armed Forces Germany visit.
	5 September 2006—Defence Journalists Reception—Cavalry and Guards Club.
	6 October 2006—Final Parade and Review in Belfast for Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment—tribute interviews—various.
	10 October 2006—Interview with Sarah Sands.
	11 October 2006—Interview with Patience Wheatcroft.
	8 December 2006—Izzy Barnard (British Forces Broadcasting Service) and Mark Page (Garrison Radio).
	13 March 2007—BBC—statement regarding medical care to Armed forces personnel.
	 Adjutant - General
	10 May 2006—Sir Max Hastings.
	19 June 2006—John Elliot - (Editor Soldier Magazine)—Blake Report Interview.
	11 July 2006—Interview with Andy Simms—(Deputy Editor Soldier Magazine).
	17 October 2006—Sir Max Hastings.
	4 December 2006—Josette Lessor—(Garrison Radio)—Christmas message.
	8 December 2006—Rob Watson—Ditchley Foundation.
	3 January 2007—BBC News—Defence Estate issues.
	5 January 2007—Max Hastings—SSAFA event.
	7 March 2007—Kate Adie.

Armed Forces: Pay

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the rate of pay of  (a) armed forces personnel and  (b) those beginning a career in the armed forces.

Des Browne: Pay rates for UK service personnel are recommended by the independent Armed Forces' Pay Review Body (AFPRB), which reports annually to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Defence. The AFPRB bases its recommendations on broad comparability with the pay of civilian occupations of similar job weight and responsibility within the UK.
	I announced in my written ministerial statement on 2 March 2007,  Official Report, column 106WS, the Government's acceptance in full of the recommendations contained in the 2007 AFPRB report and these took effect from 1 April 2007. The key recommendations were an increase in the basic military salary for officers and all other ranks of 3.3 per cent. and a targeted restructuring of pay range 1, which resulted in overall increases of between 6.2 per cent. and 9.4 per cent. for about 19,000 of the most junior trained service personnel on the lowest pay levels.
	Copies of the 2007 AFPRB report are available in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many pension payments due for payment in April 2007 were  (a) made and  (b) not made by Joint Personnel Administration.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 9 May 2007
	357,505 pension payments were made in April 2007.
	1,274 were new pension awards made, using data from the Compensation and Pension system that interfaces with the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system, in order to obtain data required for pension calculation and payment.
	Ongoing pension payments do not involve the JPA system.
	62 cases remain outstanding because information and/or application forms are awaited from units or individuals, in order for their pension entitlements to be calculated and paid. Wherever it is possible the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency assist and hasten units and individuals to ensure the necessary information is supplied in order to make payment.

Army: Conferences

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence from which budget the cost of the Chief of the General Staff's attendance at the North East Economic forum was met; and how the Chief of the General Staff travelled to the event.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 14 May 2007
	 The Chief of the General Staff attended the North East Economic Forum as a guest speaker. His travel arrangements for the day are shown as follows. All transport was provided by Ministry of Defence assets and the associated costs were absorbed by the relevant budgetary areas. The visit gave rise to no external costs.
	
		
			  From  To  Method of Transport  Budget 
			 Somerset Minley Helicopter 32 Squadron RAF 
			 Minley RAF Northolt Helicopter 32 Squadron RAF 
			 RAF Northolt Teesside airport Plane 32 Squadron RAF 
			 Teesside airport Forum Venue, Durham Car and Driver HQ London District 
			 Forum Venue, Durham Teesside airport Car and Driver HQ London District 
			 Teesside airport RAF Northolt Plane 32 Squadron RAF 
			 RAF Northolt Home Car and Driver CGS Household

Ballistic Missile Defence: USA

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland of 25 April 2007,  Official Report, column 1115W, on ballistic missile defence: USA, what legal advice he has received on the compatibility of the upgrading of RAF Fylingdales in support of the USA Ballistic Missile Defence System with the UK's obligations under the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Article 1.

Des Browne: The UK had no obligations under the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty which was a bilateral treaty between the United States and the USSR.

Defence and Communications Services Agency

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 30 April 2007,  Official Report, column 1461W, on the Defence and Communications Services Agency, for what reasons the schemes that trained in a commercial environment through civilian technical colleges were transferred to HMS Collingwood; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: In 2002, a review of DCSA Apprentice Training recommended the letting of a single out-sourced contract to replace the existing schemes based at the DCSA Training Centre Henlow and Bedford College (part in-house, part contracted out) and at Highbury College Portsmouth (contracted out). An Investment Appraisal concluded that a single outsourced model offered the Agency more flexibility to determine the size of future apprentice intake and also offered long term financial savings. Following Management Board approval, my endorsement of the proposal in December 2002, and TU Consultation, an Invitation To Tender (ITT) was, therefore, issued. Flagship Training, based at HMS Collingwood won the competition.

Food Supply: Security

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how responsibilities for strategic contingency planning for food security are distributed between his Department and other Departments.

Des Browne: holding answer 17 May 2007
	The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the designated lead Government Department for contingency planning for disruptions to the food supply chain. The Food Standards Agency is responsible for contingency planning for food contamination.

Gibraltar Regiment: Pay

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made in pay negotiations with the Gibraltar Regiment; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 17 May 2007
	Pay rates for the Royal Gibraltar Regiment are adjusted annually by the Ministry of Defence in accordance with the increases recommended by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB). The 2007 AFPRB report was published on 1 March. The AFPRB recommended an increase in basic pay of 3.3 per cent. for all ranks and a targeted restructuring of Pay Range 1 which resulted in a total pay increase of 9.4 per cent. for the most junior trained service personnel. The Government accepted the AFPRB's recommendations in full and these were implemented from 1 April 2007.
	The AFPRB will publish their recommendations on service pay for 2008—including the pay of Royal Gibraltar Regiment personnel—early next year.

HMS Cornwall: Mass Media

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which media organisations had personnel on board HMS Cornwall on  (a) 23 March 2007 and  (b) each of the five days preceding;
	(2)  if he will list the media interviews undertaken on board HMS Cornwall on 23 March 2007; at what time each interview was undertaken; and who  (a) conducted and  (b) was the subject of each;
	(3)  which television crews were taken out on board HMS Cornwall's Lynx helicopter on 23 March 2007; and whether his Department holds camera footage taken by these crews on that day.

Des Browne: The Independent and the BBC had personnel on board HMS Cornwall from 22 to 24 March 2007.
	At approximately 1015 hours GMT on 23 March 2007 Ian Parnell from the BBC interviewed Commodore Nick Lambert (Commander Task Force 158) on board HMS Cornwall. The subject was the detention of the two sea boat crews.
	No TV crews were on HMS Cornwall's Lynx helicopter on 23 March 2007.

Iran: Territorial Waters

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library an appropriately redacted copy of the report of the Board of Inquiry into the 2004 seizure by Iran of United Kingdom service personnel and equipment;
	(2)  who the members were of the Board of Inquiry into the 2004 Iranian seizure of UK personnel; and on what date it reported.

Des Browne: holding answer 24 April 2007
	 A comprehensive in-theatre Learning Account (investigation) was conducted and a Board of Inquiry was therefore not considered necessary. I am withholding the Learning Account as publication would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness and security of our armed forces.

Iraq

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the UK Government have entered into any written agreements with  (a) US authorities and  (b) Iraqi authorities on the conditions on which individuals arrested and detained by UK armed forces in Iraq may be transferred to (i) US authorities and (ii) Iraqi authorities; and if he will place copies of any such agreements in the Library.

Des Browne: holding answer 18 December 2006
	 The Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Governments of the United States and Australia governing the transfer, in accordance with the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions of prisoners of war, of civilian internees and detainees taken during operations against Iraq in 2003. This MOU is no longer in use.
	The UK contingent of the Multinational Force in Iraq signed a MOU with the Iraqi Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Interior in 2004, that governs the transfer of individuals in the custody of UK forces in Iraq to the Iraqi criminal justice system. We will make public the text of this MOU subject to obtaining the consent of the Iraqi Government as the co-signatory. I will write to the right hon. Member to inform him of their decision and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Iraq: Peace Keeping Operations

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many unmanned aerial vehicles, including balloons, have been  (a) lost and  (b) damaged beyond repair while working for British Operations in Iraq.

Des Browne: Since 2003, three balloons and 33 unmanned aerial vehicles have been lost in Iraq. 38 unmanned aerial vehicles have been damaged beyond repair over the same period.

Iraq: Peace Keeping Operations

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Iraq for UK armed forces.

Des Browne: The security situation in Iraq varies from province to province. In Multi-National Division (South East) (MND(SE)), where the majority of UK forces operate, Basra still suffers from violence, mainly between Shia groups seeking political or economic advantage, although many attacks are aimed at coalition forces. Responsibility for security in the other three provinces in MND(SE) has been transferred to the Iraqi authorities, reflecting their generally positive security situations, along with maturing political institutions and the growing capacity of the Iraqi security forces.

Military Bases: Cyprus

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on the development of facilities in Cyprus to support the air bridge for service personnel travelling to and from operational theatres; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Significant progress has been made to develop facilities in Cyprus, specifically at RAF Akrotiri, to support the operational air bridge.
	The air terminal at Akrotiri has been the focus of development activity with a number of improvements. To improve communication, we have installed five military network telephones, 10 free-to-user mobile phones to be used in the event of delay, and two free-to-user internet terminals. In addition, we have a WiFi installation and two public network pay phones with an additional six on order.
	On the welfare side, operational passengers are offered free tea, coffee and a light snack in addition to the NAAFI shop in the terminal. There are also three wide screen TVs (two satellite and one DVD player) for entertainment and, in the unusual event of a prolonged delay, passengers will be taken to the station cinema and transported to messes for hot meals.
	In the longer term, there are plans to refurbish the terminal. In the interim, a semi-permanent holding facility, separate and adjacent to the main terminal, is being developed.

Nuclear Weapons: Transport

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what factors were taken into account in deciding on the timing of the movement of nuclear warheads from AWE Aldermaston to Scotland on 10 and 11 May.

Des Browne: I am withholding information on individual movements of Defence nuclear material as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice national security.

Rendition

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what dates since 1 July 2006 the aircraft with the registration HZ-124 has landed at RAF Brize Norton; on what basis this aircraft is allowed to use RAF Brize Norton; and what fees have been paid to his Department by the owners of the aircraft HZ-124 for the use of RAF Brize Norton since 1 July 2006.

Des Browne: holding answer 17 May 2007
	Since 1 July 2006, aircraft HZ-124 has landed 14 times at RAF Brize Norton. The aircraft operated in accordance with the MOD regulations for civil aircraft use of military airfields. The regulations also cover the applicability and level of landing, housing, parking and insurance administration charges. The regulations have been adhered to for each flight.

RFA Orange

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress with the recommendations of the Board of Inquiry into the loss of SGIA Mark Petre (UK104390) and LH(CK) Keith Rice (UK 110745) from RFA Orange.

Adam Ingram: The Board of Inquiry into this tragic incident made seven recommendations:
	The accommodation ladder should be raised following the last liberty boat run;
	The inherent dangers of a man over board incident should remain the subject of education and safety awareness;
	Flotilla guidance on the control, inspection and validation of bar stock and keys should be published;
	The RFA drug and alcohol policy and rules controlling ships' bars should recognise cases of ships at anchor;
	Command teams should make arrangements as they feel necessary to provide additional supervision when large numbers of crew members have been consuming alcohol ashore;
	Royal Fleet Auxiliary Human Resources and Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre should meet to establish whether or not casualty and kinforming procedures should be integrated or inter related;
	Incident narratives should be kept as a matter of routine to aid investigations.
	All these recommendations have now been adopted.

Territorial Army: Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many deployments have been made of Territorial Army personnel based in Chorley; what role they have played in serving overseas; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 17 May 2007
	There are two Territorial Army (TA) detachments based at Chorley TA centre. The detachment of 29 Military Intelligence Company, 3 Military Intelligence Battalion (V) has deployed 16 TA personnel on operations since 2003, in a military intelligence role. The detachment of 5(General Support) Medical Regiment has deployed 20 personnel on operations since 2003, in a medical support role.

Trident: Freedom of Information

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what requests he has received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the release of advice provided to him on the legality of replacing Trident.

Des Browne: The Department has received no requests under the Freedom of Information Act for the release of legal advice pertaining to the maintenance of the nuclear deterrent beyond the planned life of the existing Trident system.

Written Questions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will answer question 123013, on external consultants, tabled by the hon. Member for Fareham on 20 February 2007.

Adam Ingram: I replied to the hon. Member on 18 May 2007,  Official Report, column 989W.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Investment Policy

Anne McIntosh: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church Commissioners are taking to ensure the best possible return on their investment portfolio.

Stuart Bell: In order to achieve the best possible total return—within acceptable levels of risk and in line with our ethical investment policy—we maintain a well diversified investment portfolio and regularly review asset allocation. Our fund's performance was in the top 2 per cent. of UK pension funds over the last 10 years according to independent performance measurement statistics.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Parliamentary Education Service

Ben Chapman: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will take steps to increase the take-up by schools and other educational institutions outside London and the South East of opportunities to visit Parliament and use facilities offered by the Parliamentary Education Service.

Nick Harvey: The Administration Committee recommended in its recent report. Improving Facilities for Educational Visitors to Parliament(1), that the House of Commons Commission, working closely with the appropriate bodies in the House of Lords, should consider the case for subsidising school visits to Westminster from more remote constituencies. The Group on Information for the Public will be presenting proposals for consideration by the Commission later in the year.
	The Parliamentary Education Service is currently expanding its educational visits programme to offer more places to schools throughout the year and can also provide, on request, educational sessions for young people visiting Parliament in Members' groups. In addition, the Education Service is developing services aimed at schools that are unable to visit Westminster, for whatever reason, including a range of educational publications, teaching resources, films and a dedicated website. The two outreach officers, appointed in September 2005, have so far visited 50 local education authorities and provided training sessions for over 300 teachers and educational sessions for over 1,000 young people away from Westminster.
	(1) HC 434 2006-07.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Driving Offences

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of people originating from outside the UK charged with offences in the last 12 months were also charged  (a) with driving without a valid British driving licence and  (b) with having no British driving licence.

Vernon Coaker: Driving without a valid licence is an offence under s.87(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Failure to possess a licence is not an offence.
	Information is not collected centrally on the number of people charged. The Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform identifies proceedings under s.87(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Information on the UK or foreign origin of those proceeded against is not collected.

Driving Under Influence

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) arrests and  (b) convictions for drink-driving resulted in custodial sentences in each year since 1997, broken down by police authority.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested on arrests is not available centrally.
	Information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on convictions and custodial sentences for drink-driving offences by police force area 1997 to 2004 (latest available) is given in the following tables.
	Data for 2005 will be available shortly.
	
		
			  Findings of guilt and immediate custodial sentences at all courts for offences of driving etc .  after consuming alcohol or taking drugs by police force area, 1997 to 2004 
			  Number of offences 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000 
			  Police force area  Findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 1)  Findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 1)  Findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 1)  Findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 1) 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,812 163 2,566 157 2,728 165 2,462 152 
			 Bedfordshire 1,146 119 1,060 96 869 87 797 89 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,092 56 1,060 62 941 43 793 41 
			 Cheshire 1,969 97 1,903 119 1,827 133 1,652 122 
			 Cleveland 926 61 870 63 811 57 777 56 
			 Cumbria 931 49 856 51 871 37 806 50 
			 Derbyshire 1,612 147 1,547 202 1,463 181 1,417 126 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,342 91 2,265 127 2,277 112 2,199 104 
			 Dorset 1,214 93 1,186 88 1,120 96 1,115 84 
			 Durham 1,044 66 1,035 53 1,137 81 1,124 76 
			 Essex 2,736 228 2,438 233 2,528 261 2,462 237 
			 Gloucestershire 1,067 48 985 36 889 51 804 37 
			 Greater Manchester 4,806 440 4,715 453 4,850 464 4,801 428 
			 Hampshire 3,774 243 3,597 231 3,725 213 3,472 244 
			 Hertfordshire 1,670 90 1.672 91 1,679 90 1,552 98 
			 Humberside 1,274 76 1,358 87 1,323 97 1,371 128 
			 Kent 2,321 97 2,627 155 2,633 133 2,592 134 
			 Lancashire 3,389 224 2,945 178 3,010 184 2,584 163 
			 Leicestershire 1,648 183 1,485 140 1,624 188 1,531 152 
			 Lincolnshire 1,088 47 979 36 941 44 816 48 
			 London, City of 436 8 301 9 236 5 162 4 
			 Merseyside 2,719 304 2,451 326 2,137 296 2,128 286 
			 Met Police 16,165 1,270 13,889 1,050 12,414 838 11,801 891 
			 Norfolk 1,116 49 1,118 43 1,010 64 935 45 
			 Northamptonshire 1,107 109 1,062 73 1,058 91 782 90 
			 Northumbria 2,625 184 2,457 194 2,463 229 2,621 215 
			 North Yorkshire 1,365 77 1,205 77 1,124 60 1,073 67 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,031 255 1,804 247 1,802 262 1,722 210 
			 South Yorkshire 2,296 204 2,002 178 1,927 149 2,122 170 
			 Staffordshire(2) 2,036 132 1,955 140 1,711 143 n/a n/a 
			 Suffolk 1,050 53 1,042 60 1,089 71 902 74 
			 Surrey 1,380 64 1,328 58 1,417 47 1,539 61 
			 Sussex 2,373 110 2,113 113 2,224 120 2,112 136 
			 Thames Valley 4,070 215 3,896 195 3,725 216 3,496 212 
			 Warwickshire 837 44 784 53 856 38 786 42 
			 West Mercia 1,947 87 1,794 97 1,747 114 1,631 101 
			 West Midlands 6,351 598 5,582 532 4,775 532 4,559 451 
			 West Yorkshire 3,953 394 3,669 329 3,597 358 3,375 287 
			 Wiltshire 1,043 27 1,108 39 1,009 45 930 28 
			 England 93,761 6,802 86,709 6,471 83,567 6,395 79,671 6,076 
			  
			 Dyfed Powys 1,029 44 995 38 944 48 858 45 
			 Gwent 1,166 61 1,203 84 1,079 78 1,211 99 
			 North Wales 1,354 96 1,306 95 1,248 94 1,332 92 
			 South Wales 2,892 257 2,903 239 2,526 282 2,757 255 
			 Wales 6,441 458 6,407 456 5,797 502 6,158 491 
			 England and Wales 100,202 7,260 93,116 6,927 89,364 6,897 85,829 6,567 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of offences 
			   2001  2002  2003  2004 
			  Police force area  Findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 1)  Findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 1)  Findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 1)  Findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 1) 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,197 129 2,401 124 2,666 167 2,692 145 
			 Bedfordshire 914 79 955 82 1,072 72 1,028 65 
			 Cambridgeshire 813 51 852 41 933 56 1,083 52 
			 Cheshire 1,529 96 1,993 103 1,905 110 2,128 106 
			 Cleveland 887 77 921 71 981 61 1,071 60 
			 Cumbria 761 51 768 37 843 37 907 50 
			 Derbyshire 1,411 140 1,465 164 1,617 168 1,874 143 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,369 128 2,441 95 2,667 121 2,560 120 
			 Dorset 1,150 91 1,199 83 1,264 73 1,239 52 
			 Durham 1,097 86 1,136 68 1,170 77 1,277 80 
			 Essex 2,456 264 2,522 267 2,622 311 2,853 349 
			 Gloucestershire 865 39 926 44 890 37 913 38 
			 Greater Manchester 4,715 454 4,720 474 4,743 437 4,811 379 
			 Hampshire 3,464 235 3,846 243 3,663 234 3,743 199 
			 Hertfordshire 1,666 94 1,894 90 1,904 78 1,881 94 
			 Humberside 1,259 126 1,395 113 1,445 150 1,623 112 
			 Kent 2,575 165 2,745 152 2,811 179 3,010 155 
			 Lancashire 2,304 148 2,599 159 2,652 146 2,706 125 
			 Leicestershire 1,546 140 1,659 140 1,725 143 1,754 145 
			 Lincolnshire 877 60 847 56 1,111 42 1,209 46 
			 London, City of 162 10 221 12 230 4 169 5 
			 Merseyside 2,195 217 2,293 216 2,687 215 2,849 261 
			 Met Police 11,260 928 12,905 927 12,621 922 13,227 832 
			 Norfolk 1,143 75 1,220 55 1,274 59 1,240 64 
			 Northamptonshire 399 65 236 35 799 65 922 73 
			 Northumbria 2,529 217 2,588 188 2,747 187 2,675 183 
			 North Yorkshire 1,066 55 1,119 63 1,194 51 1,131 40 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,598 187 1,420 129 1,644 149 1,669 111 
			 South Yorkshire 2,020 159 1,945 165 2,089 125 2,224 140 
			 Staffordshire(2) 1,513 136 1,704 143 1,733 141 1,733 124 
			 Suffolk 920 43 1,105 79 1,213 66 1,332 89 
			 Surrey 1,592 65 1,614 68 1,464 44 1,425 51 
			 Sussex 2,358 128 2,306 149 2,430 120 2,368 104 
			 Thames Valley 3,275 210 4,317 219 3,884 159 3,539 190 
			 Warwickshire 880 33 841 40 918 33 845 23 
			 West Mercia 1,740 91 1,719 93 1,797 100 1,689 103 
			 West Midlands 4,914 471 5,050 438 5,233 420 5,584 423 
			 West Yorkshire 3,220 331 3,564 268 3,720 260 3,897 276 
			 Wiltshire 1,045 53 1,005 54 1,031 62 1,024 39 
			 England 78,684 6,127 84,456 5,947 87,392 5,881 89,904 5,646 
			  
			 Dyfed Powys 867 36 927 47 995 46 986 47 
			 Gwent 1,152 76 1,074 74 1,149 94 1,188 69 
			 North Wales 1,227 87 1,270 71 1,326 76 1,349 75 
			 South Wales 2,812 295 2,761 236 2,840 211 2,811 222 
			 Wales 6,058 494 6,032 428 6,310 427 6,334 413 
			 England and Wales 84,742 6,621 90,488 6,375 93,702 6,308 96,238 6,059 
			 n/a = not available (1) Immediate custody includes sentences of secure training order, detention and training order, young offender institution and unsuspended sentence of imprisonment. (2) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.  Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Drug Seizures

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what total amount of  (a) cannabis,  (b) cocaine,  (c) crack cocaine,  (d) heroin and  (e) ecstasy was seized in each of the last 10 years, broken down by police force area;
	(2)  how many grammes of illegal drugs were detected by  (a) police officers and  (b) police dogs in each of the last 10 years; and what percentage of the total drug seizures for each year each of those figures constituted.

Vernon Coaker: Latest drug seizures data for England and Wales relate to the calendar year 2004 and are published on the Home Office RDS website. The requested data for each year between 1995 and 2004, broken down by police force area, are provided in the tables. Copies will be placed in the Library of the House.
	Information about how, and by whom, drugs are detected is not collected centrally.
	Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts, police forces and other agencies. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Fingerprints: Fraud

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of whether individuals whose fingertips have been smoothed through manual labour could potentially have their identities forged more easily.

Joan Ryan: Damage to fingerprints may lead to poorer quality biometric records being registered in some cases, although this is dependent on the equipment and recording process deployed. The fingerprints of those working in certain kinds of manual labour could be subject to such damage.
	However, there is no evidence that people with damaged fingerprints are more susceptible to impersonation. Where a difficulty is experienced in conducting a biometric match against previously enrolled biometrics, second line processes would be in place to deal with such circumstances as appropriate to that particular situation.

Human Trafficking: North Eastern Region

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the extent of human trafficking in the north-east of England; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: While there are no firm figures given a regional breakdown of the problem, emerging findings from a Home Office research paper due to be published later this year estimates, that at any one time in 2003 there were in the region of 4,000 female victims of trafficking for prostitution in the UK.
	The United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre in conjunction with the Serious Organised Crime Agency are working to improve intelligence collection across the UK on human trafficking. However the nature of the crime makes it difficult to make an accurate assessment of the extent of the problem in different areas.

Identity Cards

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how those liable for civil penalties under section 31 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 will be identified.

Joan Ryan: Any civil penalties will be determined in accordance with sections 31 to 34 of the Identity Cards Act 2006 and, in particular, the code of practice on penalties. This code will be published before the commencement of the national identity scheme and will set out the matters that must be considered when determining whether a civil penalty should be imposed and, if so, the amount of the penalty.
	Precise details of how those liable for civil penalties will be identified are yet to be determined.

Identity Cards

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the publication of his Department's six-monthly report to Parliament on the costs of the identity cards scheme has been delayed.

Joan Ryan: I regret that the latest report on the estimated costs of the identity cards scheme was not published six months after publication of the first report as not all the contents could be finalised in time. However, it was published some four weeks after the due date, on 10 May 2007, by way of a written ministerial statement, and this short delay must be seen in the light of the 10 year period covered by the report.

Offensive Weapons: Suffolk

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of knife crime involving under-18 year olds were recorded in Suffolk in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: From the information collected on recorded crime, it is not possible to identify those offences which are knife related. Such offences are not specifically defined by statute and details of the individual circumstances of offences do not feature in the recorded crime statistics.
	Figures are collected for homicides involving the use of sharp instruments but they do not separately identify knife-related offences. As from April 2007, police forces will provide data on offences of serious violence involving knives.

Passports

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a person who meets the criteria to countersign passport applications is still eligible to countersign while on maternity leave.

Joan Ryan: holding answer 18 May 2007
	A countersignatory for a passport application must be a professional person, or a person of standing in the community, who holds a current British or Irish passport. This is not affected by maternity leave, but it remains essential that a person who countersigns a passport application must be contactable by the Identity and Passport Service.

Passports

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances difficulty in contacting a countersignatory who otherwise meets acceptable countersignatory criteria can constitute grounds for rejection of a passport application.

Joan Ryan: holding answer 18 May 2007
	The purpose of having passport applications countersigned by responsible persons is to enable the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) to confirm the identities of applicants. The work of the IPS includes contacting countersignatories for their confirmation that they signed an application in the identity shown on the form received by IPS. This is an essential safeguard against forgery of countersignatory details and other methods of identity fraud. If an application is countersigned by a person who the IPS cannot contact, the applicant may be asked to make a fresh application.

Police: Freemasonry

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces keep a register of declarations of freemasonry membership; and whether such declarations are required by  (a) police officers,  (b) prison officers,  (c) probation officers and  (d) other staff on appointment.

Tony McNulty: Voluntary arrangements for the declaration of freemasonry membership were established for the police service in 1999. There is no statutory basis for the registers which are held internally by forces. We do not monitor centrally which forces continue to administer such registers. All recruits to the prison service are required, after the selection decision and before appointment is confirmed, to declare whether they belong to the freemasons. There is no national policy requiring probation officers to declare freemasonry membership.

Police: Interpreters

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of interpreters employed by the police in the last period for which figures are available were sourced from the recommended register of the National Register of Public Service Interpreters.

Tony McNulty: This is an operational matter for the Chief Officer and the Police Authority.

Police: Road Traffic

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were engaged as dedicated officers for policing roads and vehicles in  (a) May 1997 and  (b) the latest year for which figures are available; and what his policy is on the provision of such officers.

Vernon Coaker: The number of police officers dedicated to the policing of the roads and vehicles are not collected centrally. The available data are the number of full time equivalent (FTE) police officers primarily employed in the function "traffic".
	Data are not available for May 1997, but are given for financial year (as at the last day of the year, 31 March). Data for 31 March 1997 and 31 March 1998 are unavailable.
	
		
			  As at 31 March  Officers 
			 1996 8,084 
			 2006 6,511 
			  Note: All figures are FTE rounded to the nearest whole number 
		
	
	As per the provision of such officers; the deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual chief constables.

Police: Training

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost is of training  (a) a police officer,  (b) a community support officer and  (c) a special constable.

Tony McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 17 May 2007,  Official Report, column 903W.

Prisoners: Foreigners

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 16 April 2007,  Official Report, columns 483-84W, on prisoners: foreigners, what the cost to the public purse was of imprisoning  (a) non-British EU national prisoners and  (b) non-EU foreign national prisoners in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006 and (iii) 2007.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	Cost data are not collated by nationality. Foreign national prisoners are spread across the estate. They are not managed as a separate group. The average cost of a prison place at Prison Service establishments in England and Wales was £32,888 and for the private contractual prison estate was £32,418 in 2005-06; these figures would apply equally to prisoners whether British or foreign national.

Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006

John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to introduce the Commencement Order to bring into effect the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: There is as yet no fixed date for the implementation of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. Officials are working on commencement and associated regulations and it is hoped that implementation will be in the summer of this year.

Theft: Mobile Phones

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of mobile phone theft;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with mobile phone operators on reducing mobile phone theft.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 10 May 2007
	Mobile phone theft is a key driver for robbery. The Government, police and industry have developed a strong partnership which has been working together to tackle escalating mobile phone theft. The Mobile Phone Crime Reduction Charter was launched by industry leaders in July 2006 and successfully achieved its target of blocking stolen handsets within 48 hours, meaning they will no longer work in the UK. The Government and Metropolitan police fund a National Mobile Phone Crime Unit to provide a national centre of excellence and operational support around the country. We have robust legislation in place to target criminals who re-programme stolen handsets.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Assessments: Fees and Charges

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to publish its research into the fee level charged for GCSEs and A-levels; and what steps  (a) the QCA and  (b) his Department plans to take in response to this research.

Jim Knight: It is for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to decide whether it would be appropriate or lawful to publish any of the sources of evidence used in its review of fees. The Department and the QCA are considering what action to take in light of the review, and will announce next steps later in the year.

City Academies

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  which contracts have been placed by city academies with companies in which their sponsors have a financial interest;
	(2)  what restrictions apply to commercial involvement by city academies in companies with which their sponsors have a financial interest;
	(3)  what rules apply to the letting of contracts by city academies to companies in which their sponsors had an interest;
	(4)  what rules relate to declarations of interest in the tendering for contracts by city academies;
	(5)  how many requests he has received to waive rules on tendering contracts by city academies; and how many have been accepted;
	(6)  what rules govern the letting of contracts by city academies.

Jim Knight: Academies are charitable companies limited by guarantee, and are subject to the same regulatory framework as applies to all such organisations and to company law generally. The governors of an academy are also its charitable trustees.
	The Charity Commission approves the governing documents of all companies proposed to be registered as charities prior to granting registration, to ensure that any provisions conferring authority on the charity to make a payment to one of the governors—or a company associated with a governor—deal with potential conflicts of interest in a transparent manner.
	All academy trusts use the Department's model memorandum and articles of association as a basis for their own, and these include standard conflict of interest provisions recommended by the Charity Commission. These typically require any governor/trustee of the company, who has an interest in a particular contract, to withdraw from discussions and voting in relation to such a contract. In order to comply with these provisions, a sponsor of an academy trust or a sponsor-appointee with an interest in a sponsor company would, for example, be required to withdraw from any meetings at which a discussion took place on the proposed remuneration of either themselves, or a company with which they are associated.
	Furthermore, charity and company law place an obligation on charitable trustees and governors of academy companies to act at all times in the best interests of the company, and allowing the academy company to contract with another company in the knowledge that this might not be on the best terms available, would obviously be contrary to this obligation.
	In addition, the general requirements relating to the procurement of goods and services are set out in the Academies Financial Handbook, which the Department issues to all academies. This includes the requirement for probity in procurement, to demonstrate that all parties are dealt with on a fair and equitable basis and to ensure that there is no private gain In particular, the Financial Handbook requires governors, including sponsor governors, to make formal declarations of their interests in external businesses and to withdraw from any discussions regarding potential contracting with that business.
	In addition to any advice—or indeed directions—which the Department may give to academy trusts in relation to the procurement of goods and services, the law also precludes the payment of any charitable trustee unless and to the extent that legal authority for that payment is given in the charity's governing documents, or otherwise granted by a court or the Charity Commission.
	Advice and guidance is also provided through the designated Project Lead within the Department and academies must also comply with the Public Contract Regulations 2006.
	The Department cannot waive rules relating to the letting of contracts by academies, and does not keep a record of contracts that each academy enters into. However, academies are obliged by law to lodge their accounts with the Charity Commission and Companies House each year and these records are open to public scrutiny.

Connexions Service

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of people receiving advice from the Connexions service was identified as needing intensive support in each year since the service was established.

Parmjit Dhanda: The following table shows the number of occasions that young people have received advice since April 2003 when the Connexions service became fully operational across England. Young people may have received assistance on more than one occasion.
	
		
			   Total interventions  Interventions with those needing intensive support  Percentage 
			 2003-04 3,655,579 1,080,721 30 
			 2004-05 3,907,592 1,121,296 29 
			 2005-06 4,263,594 1,127,724 26 
			 2006-07 5,222,982 1,167,032 22 
		
	
	Interventions are contacts of an individual nature with young people. They include face-to-face contact, telephone contact, e-mail and text messages and also contact with parents. They exclude bulk mail shots and publicity information.

Cumbria Education Authority: Finance

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the education budget was for Cumbria local education authority in financial year  (a) 1996-97 and  (b) 2006-07.

Jim Knight: In 2006-07 Cumbria local authority received a Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocation of £246.4 million and revenue grants of £62.5 million—a total of £308.9 million to fund the education of nursery, primary and secondary school aged pupils. 1996-97 figures are not available on a comparable basis.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the total value of private finance initiative projects included in his Department's balance sheet  (a) is in 2007 and  (b) was in each of the last five years, broken down by project;
	(2)  what the value was of annual private finance initiative payments made by his Department from  (a) capital and  (b) revenue budgets in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what value of annual private finance initiative payments by his Department was classified as  (a) identifiable and  (b) non-identifiable in each of the last five years, broken down by project;
	(4)  what value of annual private finance initiative (PFI) payments were  (a) to repay capital and  (b) expenditure on other parts of each PFI contract in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Jim Knight: No PFI projects sit on the Department's balance sheet or have done in the past.
	The Department for Education and Skills does not make PFI payments. The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) make payments to local authorities to assist them in paying their annual PFI payments for schools projects. CLG does not pay the annual PFI payments themselves.
	All payments made under PFI are identifiable. Prior to a PFI contract being signed the profile of unitary charge payments is agreed between the contractor and the public sector, subject to the operation of the payment mechanism.
	The Department does not hold information on capital repayments or other parts of a PFI contract. CLG makes the payments to local authorities, which in turn have contracts with the private sector provider.

Education: Assessments

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what methods his Department uses for the monitoring of educational attainment; and what assessment he has made of trends in levels of educational attainment in the north east of England.

Jim Knight: The Department makes use of various methods for monitoring educational performance. Ofsted inspections, national curriculum tests and public examinations provide a framework for national and local analysis of performance against critical learning milestones. They provide measures which allow us to track changes in performance over time nationally, locally and at school level, to compare the progress of children in different schools, and to compare the performance of different groups of pupils. At local level, the National Strategies and Government Offices provide ongoing monitoring and challenge of the performance of local authorities and schools as a basis for supporting them to improve.
	All these methods have contributed to the improvement in standards that we have seen over the last nine years.
	Since 1997, standards in education achievement from early years to post 16 in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency and (b) North East region have improved broadly in line with national levels of attainment. A summary of the 1997 outcomes (where available) compared to 2006 is set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Newcastle upon Tyne East Wallsend  North East Region  National 
			   1997  1998  2006  1997  1998  2006  1997  1998  2006 
			  KS1 level 2+  
			 Reading — 77 80 — 80 85 — 80 84 
			 Writing — 80 77 — 81 82 — 81 81 
			 Mathematics — 84 86 — 85 90 — 84 90 
			   
			  KS2 level 4+  
			 English 51 — 76 60 — 78 63 — 79 
			 Mathematics 51 — 74 61 — 77 62 — 76 
			   
			  KS3 level 5+  
			 English 50 — 62 53 — 70 57 — 73 
			 Mathematics 51 — 67 55 — 76 60 — 77 
			   
			  KS4 GCSE+equiv  
			 Percentage of 15-year-olds achieving 5+ A*-C grades 35.5 55 36.8 57.3 45.1 58.5 
			  Notes: 1. Includes attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years. 2. Key Stage 1—Figures for 2006 are based on provisional data, 1998 is based on final data. 3. Key Stages 2, 3 and 4—Figures for 2006 are based on revised data, 1997 is based on final data. 
		
	
	In 2004 we moved to using administrative data to measure level 2 attainment by age 19 (Level 2 is equivalent to five GCSEs at A*-C), so we cannot compare latest figures with 1997. The latest figures for the North East show 69.2 per cent. of people aged 19 in 2006 were qualified to at least level 2 compared to 64.4 per cent. of people aged 19 in 2004 (corresponding figures for England were 71.4 per cent. of people aged 19 in 2006 and 66.3 per cent. of people aged 19 in 2004).

Education: Irish Studies

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many Irish studies centres there are in the UK; whether any more are planned; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The information is not collected centrally.

Educational Attainment

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) maintained secondary schools and  (b) independent secondary schools fell within each percentage point in terms of the proportion of pupils at the end of key stage 4 who achieved five or more GCSEs at (i) A* to C, (ii) A* to C including English and mathematics, (iii) A* to C including English, mathematics and science, (iv) A* to C including English, mathematics, science and a modern foreign language and (v) A* to A in 2006.

Jim Knight: The information requested for parts (i) to (iv) of this question has been placed in the House Library.
	Part (v) of this question could not be answered, except at disproportionate cost.
	The figures in the table refer to mainstream schools in 2006. Level 2 corresponds to pupils achieving 5 A*-C. This analysis is based on the revised 2006 KS4 data.
	
		
			   Number of schools for each percentage category achieving standard 
			   Level 2 threshold achievement  Level 2 threshold achievement including English and maths  Level 2 threshold achievement including English, maths and science  Level 2 threshold achievement including English, maths, science and a modern foreign language 
			  Percentage of pupils achieving standard  Maintained  Independent  Maintained  Independent  Maintained  Independent  Maintained  Independent 
			 0 1 82 1 126 26 251 89 285 
			 1 0 0 0 5 7 6 72 5 
			 2 0 1 1 1 4 5 85 7 
			 3 0 1 2 1 5 6 84 11 
			 4 0 0 3 0 6 3 109 2 
			 5 0 1 2 0 7 2 66 2 
			 6 0 0 3 2 12 2 109 2 
			 7 0 1 4 3 11 3 92 2 
			 8 0 1 1 2 16 0 96 3 
			 9 1 1 5 3 22 2 76 4 
			 10 0 2 6 6 26 5 90 4 
			 11 1 1 12 3 22 2 82 8 
			 12 0 0 15 1 28 1 83 0 
			 13 0 0 13 1 34 2 78 7 
			 14 0 1 21 3 49 2 66 8 
			 15 0 1 30 1 46 1 87 2 
			 16 2 0 31 1 52 2 71 1 
			 17 2 3 36 4 52 5 66 7 
			 18 2 1 37 1 49 5 60 4 
			 19 g 0 39 0 57 2 54 4 
			 20 5 4 52 3 53 4 62 4 
			 21 4 1 37 3 56 0 56 3 
			 22 3 0 38 2 51 2 63 9 
			 23 9 1 45 0 62 2 61 2 
			 24 10 0 58 1 53 1 66 3 
			 25 20 1 48 7 73 10 58 12 
			 26 8 2 54 1 57 2 53 1 
			 27 13 2 69 3 64 1 52 7 
			 28 20 1 63 2 66 2 45 4 
			 29 22 2 57 1 63 2 45 7 
			 30 19 1 55 2 57 3 44 9 
			 31 18 0 54 5 61 5 47 2 
			 32 32 0 58 0 63 0 42 3 
			 33 27 8 66 5 4 6 32 10 
			 34 30 0 70 0 63 0 36 0 
			 35 35 0 58 4 52 3 45 3 
			 36 47 5 68 2 70 3 45 3 
			 37 40 1 55 1 51 1 41 3 
			 38 55 2 51 5 51 3 31 7 
			 39 43 0 67 0 67 4 43 5 
			 40 44 2 58 2 42 6 30 6 
			 41 68 3 53 0 53 1 29 0 
			 42 60 1 53 8 41 7 23 c 
			 43 64 5 49 5 73 4 24 6 
			 44 56 4 54 5 64 5 23 4 
			 45 67 2 55 1 51 2 15 3 
			 46 44 2 47 2 68 2 19 7 
			 47 61 1 65 5 50 3 10 7 
			 48 56 2 45 4 56 1 18 5 
			 49 64 1 85 1 47 1 19 1 
			 50 64 10 41 14 57 11 18 20 
			 51 61 0 70 0 46 3 12 3 
			 52 61 0 46 4 40 4 14 7 
			 53 59 0 49 3 50 2 19 5 
			 54 45 1 47 3 33 4 15 2 
			 55 62 1 48 7 42 10 7 7 
			 56 51 6 52 5 32 6 10 11 
			 57 58 5 55 5 25 8 6 8 
			 58 80 5 48 3 44 2 7 8 
			 59 58 3 58 6 27 7 3 6 
			 60 74 5 35 4 24 9 3 9 
			 61 55 1 42 3 33 3 6 9 
			 62 71 2 31 4 34 7 9 1 
			 63 67 3 24 7 26 10 2 6 
			 64 77 2 26 6 23 9 4 8 
			 65 73 3 30 7 14 10 3 9 
			 66 55 1 29 1 14 2 6 9 
			 67 52 8 23 11 18 14 3 8 
			 68 58 3 20 7 14 2 5 10 
			 69 53 3 23 15 15 5 1 11 
			 70 58 5 17 10 7 9 2 4 
			 71 46 8 21 11 7 11 7 6 
			 72 54 4 12 4 10 11 4 8 
			 73 37 6 12 8 5 9 2 6 
			 74 38 4 14 10 3 9 6 13 
			 75 43 17 6 12 5 9 6 12 
			 76 39 4 6 11 5 4 6 10 
			 77 41 7 4 6 7 8 3 7 
			 78 35 6 11 13 7 6 6 14 
			 79 25 8 8 7 3 10 1 7 
			 80 31 9 8 11 5 9 2 10 
			 81 18 13 6 13 2 6 1 6 
			 82 16 6 5 5 5 18 6 3 
			 83 12 7 5 9 4 13 8 9 
			 84 16 2 3 5 3 8 8 11 
			 85 11 8 2 10 4 15 4 6 
			 86 8 14 1 19 3 10 6 9 
			 87 10 10 2 13 3 10 4 7 
			 88 8 16 4 14 5 6 5 17 
			 89 12 17 6 17 4 13 6 9 
			 90 10 13 5 8 5 13 6 9 
			 91 8 21 6 10 12 14 7 13 
			 92 8 12 4 11 6 14 8 11 
			 93 6 19 8 11 3 8 9 15 
			 94 7 23 6 16 9 15 4 7 
			 95 14 22 9 19 17 12 4 9 
			 96 7 28 7 26 6 18 8 13 
			 97 18 35 18 28 15 25 4 18 
			 98 36 46 30 31 20 27 8 21 
			 99 50 52 43 44 22 21 3 13 
			 100 57 222 34 107 11 70 6 27

Foster Care

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current levels of fee payments to foster carers; how many foster carers receive no fee payment; how many foster carers are dependent on state benefits; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: All foster carers receive an allowance which covers the full cost of caring for a child. In addition many foster carers receive a fee. The Fostering Network estimates that approximately 60 per cent. of foster carers receive a fee for their work.
	All local authorities determine their own fee structures. Information about fee levels are not collected or monitored centrally.
	Information regarding the number of foster carers in receipt of state benefits is not recorded centrally.

Foster Care

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will take steps to set up a transformation fund for local authorities to enable them to make fee payments to foster carers; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: According to information providing by The Fostering Network, approximately 60 per cent. of foster carers are already paid a fee. It is for local authorities to determine their own fee structures. The factors which contribute to decisions about fee levels are complex but may, for example, include: the skills, training and experience of the carer; the needs of the child; and the carer's ability to take up paid employment.
	Our future agenda for supporting foster carers will be set out in the forthcoming White Paper.

Foster Care

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will include in the White Paper following Care Matters proposals for a registration scheme for foster carers; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The forthcoming White Paper on children in care will set out the Government's proposals for delivery across services for children in care. It will follow on from the proposals published in the Care Matters Green Paper, including in relation to the registration of foster carers.

Foster Care

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will include in the forthcoming White Paper following Care Matters provision for national standards for fee payments to foster carers; and if he will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The forthcoming White Paper on children in care will set out the Government's proposals for delivery across services for children in care. It will follow on from the proposals published in the Care Matters Green Paper, including those in relation to support for foster carers.

GCSE: North East Region

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils achieved  (a) at least five GCSE grades A* to C and  (b) GCSE grades A* to C including English and mathematics in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) south Tyneside, (iii) the north-east and (iv) England in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: The following tables contain GCSE results for 15-year-olds in maintained schools, including special schools.
	
		
			  Jarrow 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1) 
			 Percentage gaining 5+ GCSEs A*-C 39 38 42 40 42 43 41 45 52 56 
			 Number of 15 year old pupils 962 937 951 948 1056 1055 1060 1029 947 987 
			 Number of 15 year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C 373 357 395 378 447 451 430 466 496 552 
		
	
	
		
			  Jarrow 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1) 
			 Percentage gaining 5+ GCSEs A*-C — — — — — — — — 35 40 
			 Number of 15 year old pupils — — — — — — — — 947 987 
			 Number of 15 year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and Maths — — — — — — — — 334 398 
		
	
	
		
			  South Tyneside 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1) 
			 Percentage gaining 5+ GCSEs at A*-C 36 37 40 39 39 42 44 45 52 56 
			 Number of 15 year old pupils 1,873 1,820 1,826 1,839 2,020 2,142 2,054 2,020 1,934 1,997 
			 Number of 15 year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C 668 672 728 723 789 903 894 912 997 1,110 
		
	
	
		
			  South Tyneside 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1) 
			 Percentage gaining 5+ GCSEs at A*-C including English and Maths 27 31 32 33 32 34 34 35 34 40 
			 Number of 15 year old pupils 1,873 1,820 1,826 1,839 2,020 2,142 2,054 2,020 1,934 1,997 
			 Number of 15year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and Maths 511 561 591 607 653 733 696 701 662 791 
		
	
	
		
			  North East 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1) 
			 Percentage 5+ GCSEs at A*-C 37 37 39 42 42 44 47 49 53 57 
			 Number of 15 year old pupils 31,234 30,433 30,629 30,473 31,826 31,712 32,045 32,409 31,007 31,687 
			 Number of 15 year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C 11,492 11,279 12,056 12,694 13,525 14,061 14,985 15,798 16,587 18,154 
		
	
	
		
			  North East 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1) 
			 Percentage gaining 5+ GCSEs at A*-C including English and Maths 28 28 31 33 34 35 35 36 38 40 
			 Number of 15 year old pupils 31,234 30,433 30,629 30,473 31,826 31,712 32,045 32,409 31,007 31,687 
			 Number of 15 year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and Maths 8,758 8,642 9,433 10,026 10,684 11,030 11,125 11,584 11,787 12,779 
		
	
	
		
			  England 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1) 
			 Percentage gaining 5+ GCSEs at A*-C 43 44 46 47 48 50 51 52 55 57 
			 Number of 15 year old pupils 537,661 527,538 533,730 534,343 554,506 558,002 572,040 590,096 583,265 593,061 
			 Number of 15 year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C 228,646 231,222 243,870 250,936 265,498 276,239 292,438 307,046 319,481 339,289 
		
	
	
		
			  England 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006( 1) 
			 Percentage gaining 5+ GCSEs at A*-C including English and Maths 33 34 39 37 38 40 43 40 42 44 
			 Number of 15 year old pupils 537,661 527,38 533,30 534,43 554,06 558,02 572,40 590,96 583,65 593,61 
			 Number of 15 year olds gaming 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and Maths 174,990 179,493 191,800 199,147 211,245 220,463 225,963 238,463 247,512 260,608 
			 (1) Revised data for 2006 
		
	
	The GCSE data for Jarrow corresponding to 5+ A*-C grades including Maths and English before 2005 could not be calculated, except at disproportionate cost.

International GCSE

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2007,  Official Report, columns 1379-81W, on GCSEs, which of the schools listed offer the International GCSE.

Jim Knight: The Department does not include the International GCSE within the Secondary School Achievement and Attainment Tables and so data on the pupils attempting or achieving the International GCSE are not held centrally.

Local Education Authorities: Ethnic Groups

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance his Department provides to local education authorities on black and minority ethnic representation on independent appeals panels.

Jim Knight: The current Admission Appeals Code of Practice and relevant regulations do not give specific guidance on this issue. However, I agree that the issue should be addressed, and will ensure that guidance is included in the new Appeals Code, which we intend to bring into force in January 2008.

Medicine: Education

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) students and  (b) undergraduates were studying (i) medicine, (ii) dentistry and (iii) subjects allied to medicine in each of the last five years, broken down by institution.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 18 May 2007
	The latest available information for the academic years 2002/03 to 2005/06 has been placed in the House Library. Comparable information for 2006/07 will be available in January 2008.

Parents: Custody

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of how many children do not have contact with a non-resident parent as a result of a resident parent refusing to comply with a court order requiring the child to spend time with their non-resident parent.

Parmjit Dhanda: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Pupil Referral Units

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are in place for monitoring how money designated for pupil referral units is spent; and what systems are in place to evaluate the effect of the expenditure.

Jim Knight: Pupil referral units come under the local authority accountability arrangements through the Audit Commission. The Department collects financial data from local authorities relating to pupil referral units covering schools standards grant, personalisation and devolved school meals grant through their annual budget statements, known as the Section 52 statements.
	Local authorities should allocate resources to their pupil referral units in a planned, balanced and agreed manner and be able to demonstrate that these resources are being appropriately targeted on delivering improved outcomes. In assessing the leadership and management of a pupil referral unit, Ofsted inspectors make a judgment and report on how effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money.
	Further, subject to regulations which will require the establishment of management committees for all pupil referral units from 1 November 2007, management committees may be involved in the management of funds made available to their pupil referral units, including the monitoring of expenditure and ensuring value for money.

Pupils: Languages

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether all schools are required to report to his Department the first language of all their pupils.

Jim Knight: The School Census collects first language information at pupil level from primary, secondary and all special schools, as well as academies and city technology colleges (CTCs), in accordance with section 537A of the Education Act 1996. Totals of all pupils recorded as having English as an additional language (EAL) are also collected from Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), in accordance with section 29 of the Education Act 1996 and section 42 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. The requirement is for these schools to report the first language of all pupils of compulsory school age and above.

School Meals: Expenditure

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on providing school meals for  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools in the last period for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: The Department does not collect data that allows us to report expenditure on school meals alone.

Schools

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the 68 national support schools.

Jim Knight: A list of the 68 National Support Schools is available on the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) website:
	www.ncsl.org.uk.
	The schools are:
	Alexandra Infant School, Beckenham
	Archbishop Holgate's School, York
	Baxter College, Kidderminster
	Bishop Stopford School, Headlands
	Blackwood School, Streetly
	Bognor Regis Community College, Bognor Regis
	Bourton Meadow, Buckingham
	Brookside Community Primary School, Street
	Caldecote Community Primary, Leicester
	Caludon Castle School, Wyken
	Carlton-Bolling College, Bradford
	Chepping View Primary, High Wycombe
	Colmore Infant School, Kings Heath
	Colmore Junior, Kings Heath
	Corsham Primary, Corsham
	Darley Dale Primary, Matlock
	East Barnet School
	Edinburgh Primary, Walthamstow
	Eggar's School, Alton
	Fellside Community Primary School, Whickham
	Garforth Community College, Garforth
	Grange School, Kempston
	Grangewood School, Pinner
	Greensward College, Hockley
	Greenwood Dale School, Nottingham
	Haybridge High School and Sixth Form
	Hayes Park School, Hayes
	Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre, Emmer Green
	Hillcrest School and Community College, Dudley
	Houghton Kepier Sports College, Houghton le Spring
	Huntington School, Huntington
	Invicta Grammar, Maidstone
	Kemnal Technology College, Sidcup
	Ladybarn Primary, Withington
	Lea Valley Primary, London
	Lent Rise School, Burnham
	Limbrick Wood Primary School, Coventry
	Linwood, Bournemouth
	Lordswood Girls' School, Harborne
	Loughborough Primary
	Malvin's Close First School, Blyth
	Mossbourne Community Academy, Hackney
	Newark Orchard School
	Ninestiles School, Acocks Green
	Old Ford Primary, Bow
	Oldway Primary School, Paignton
	Outwood Grange College, Wakefield
	Prince Henry's Grammar, Otley
	Queen's Crescent School, Chippenham
	Richmond Primary, Chadderton
	Riverside Junior School, Hullbridge
	Shaldon Primary
	St. Anne's RC Primary, London
	St. James R.C. Primary, Bromley
	St. Luke's C of E (Voluntary Aided) School, Southsea
	St. Peter's Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre, Gloucester
	St. Peter's Primary School, Wem
	St. Saviour's and St. Olave's School, London
	Steeton Primary School, Steeton
	The Compton School, Finchley
	The Hayesbrook School, Tonbridge, Kent
	The Hayesbrook School, Tonbridge, Kent
	Waddesdon Church of England School, Aylesbury
	West Kirby Residential School, West Kirby
	Westfield Technology College, Preston, Weymouth
	Wildern School, Southampton
	William Farr (CofE) Comprehensive School, Welton
	Woodlands School, Basildon

Schools: Inspections

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many specialists in  (a) mathematics,  (b) English,  (c) music,  (d) languages,  (e) history,  (f) geography,  (h) sciences,  (i) social sciences and  (j) physical education are employed by Ofsted to undertake school inspections; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Library.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 11 May 2007:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	You asked how many specialists in  (a) mathematics,  (b) English,  (c) music,  (d) languages,  (e) history,  (f) geography,  (g) sciences,  (h) social sciences and  (i) physical education are employed by Ofsted to undertake school inspections.
	Ofsted's general programme of Section 5 school inspections does not deploy subject specialists. There is a separate programme of subject survey inspections, sampling 45 primary and 45 secondary schools for English and mathematics, and 30 primary and secondary schools for all other subjects, as agreed with the DfES. Subject specialist HMI and additional inspectors supplied by our Regional Inspection Service Providers are deployed for this work. An HMI is appointed as specialist adviser for each subject and carries the national responsibility for the subject inspection programme and the advice and dissemination that arises from it; he or she is supported by colleagues with regional responsibility.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Schools: Inspections

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the  (a) minimum and  (b) maximum period is between which Ofsted inspections of individual schools may take place;
	(2)  how many schools there are in circumstances where the period since their last Ofsted inspection took place exceeds the maximum period laid down for the next inspection, broken down by local education authority; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: New statutory arrangements for school inspections came into effect in September 2005, including a new cycle of inspection. All maintained schools must be inspected under these new arrangements between September 2005 and August 2009 and thereafter within three school years from the end of the school year in which their last inspection took place. Ofsted is on course to meet the first of these requirements. Before September 2005, schools were inspected on a six year cycle.
	Schools may receive additional visits, for example as part of Ofsted's thematic survey work or programme of monitoring schools causing concern. While there is no specified minimum period between inspections, Ofsted does, for example, seek to avoid scheduling survey visits to schools which have recently had a school inspection.

Schools: Sanitation

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the outcomes of the revision of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999, referred to in the answer of 21 February 2005,  Official Report, column 294W, on school toilets, were in relation to the required standards of toilet facilities provision for pupils.

Jim Knight: It was our intention to revise the Education (School Premises) Regulations in 2005. Unfortunately due to pressure of work this did not occur. It is now in the business plan for the Department to revise the regulations later this year and school toilets will be one of the areas considered for revision.

Schools: Sanitation

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of the £840 million allocated for extended schools which  (a) has been and  (b) will be spent on toilet and washroom facilities for pupils as referred to in the answer of 23 January 2006,  Official Report, column 1927W, on school toilets.

Jim Knight: We do not currently collect data on the detail of how local authorities spend their extended schools funding. Of the £840 million allocated for extended schools services, £250 million will go direct to schools. The remaining £590 million will be distributed by local authorities who will be able to prioritise the allocation of resources according to local need and their plans for the development of extended services. We would expect local authorities and schools to plan for necessary toilet provision according to the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999. These set out the requirements regarding washrooms in schools.

Schools: Sports

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect of the time taken to announce the 2008 budget allocations on PE in Sport and Schools Programmes.

Jim Knight: holding answer 14 May 2007
	 The Government allocate resources to Departments on a three year cycle through Spending Reviews. DfES received its settlement for 2008-09 to 2010-11 in the 2007 Budget. We are now thoroughly evaluating the financial implications and are working to allocate funding as effectively as possible to ensure the maximum benefit to children and young people. We recognise that forward planning is essential for public services—this is why we are committed to delivering multi-year budgets—and are making it a priority to ensure allocations are made as soon as possible.

Schools: Standards

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact on schools of the use of target-setting by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Targets are an essential part of the Government's commitment to raising educational standards and the results suggest that they work. Schools have responsibility for setting their own targets. The role of local authorities and School Improvement Partners is to support and challenge their schools to set ambitious targets for all their pupils. The table suggests that the setting of ambitious targets has provided a powerful stimulus for the improvement in both primary and secondary standards over the last nine years.
	At Key Stage 2, 95,000 more 11-year-olds are now achieving the level expected for their age in English and 83,000 more in mathematics compared with 1997.
	At Key Stage 3 104,000 more pupils are now reaching the level expected of 14-year-olds in maths than in 1997, with 94,000 more in English and 74,000 more in science.
	At Key Stage 4, 86,000 more pupils are now achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE than did so in 1997.
	
		
			   1997  2006  Percentage difference 
			  KS2 level 4+
			 English 63 79 +16 
			 Mathematics 62 76 +14 
			 
			  KS3 level 5+
			 English 57 73 +16 
			 Mathematics 60 77 +17 
			 Science 60 72 +12 
			 
			  KS4 GCSE+equiv
			 Percentage of 15-year-olds achieving 5+ A*-C grades 45.1 58.5 +13.4

Steiner Schools Foundation

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many Steiner schools there are in England; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the education offered in those schools.

Jim Knight: There are currently 27 Steiner schools registered as independent schools with the Department. They are inspected by Ofsted to ensure they meet the statutory requirements which all independent schools must meet as a condition of registration. Inspection reports on Steiner and other independent schools inspected by Ofsted, which describe whether or not the statutory standards are met, are published on the Ofsted website http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/. There are no state maintained Steiner schools.

Teachers: Manpower

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the  (a) teacher to pupil ratio and  (b) classroom assistant to pupil ratio was in (i) nursery, (ii) infant, (iii) junior and (iv) secondary school classes in (A) Hartlepool constituency, (B) the Tees Valley sub-region, (C) the North East region and (D) England in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: The following tables show pupil to teacher ratios and pupil to teaching assistant ratios in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in Hartlepool constituency, Tees Valley region, the North East Government office region and England, January 1997 to 2007.
	Information for infant and junior schools can not be provided separately.
	
		
			  Pupil:teacher ratios and pupil:teaching assistant ratios( 1)  in maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools in Hartlepool constituency, the Tees Valley sub-region, the North East GOR and England, January 1997 to 2007( 2) 
			   Hartlepool constituency  Tees Valley  sub- region( 3) 
			   Nursery  Primary  Secondary  Nursery  Primary  Secondary 
			  1997   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 25.2 17.1 (4)— 24.2 16.9 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 138.9 843.7 (4)— 126.5 659.8 
			
			  1998   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 26.0 18.0 20.7 24.8 17.3 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 129.9 703.5 17.9 122.4 617.1 
			
			  1999   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 25.1 17.8 18.6 24.4 17.3 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 124.6 545.2 15.5 119.5 527.1 
			
			  2000   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 24.6 17.9 19.8 23.9 17.2 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 112.8 354.1 15.3 109.0 395.4 
			
			  2001   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 23.9 17.5 20.5 23.7 16.9 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 67.7 186.1 15.3 78.6 302.8 
			
			  2002   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 23.0 16.2 19.0 22.5 16.5 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 179.8 134.2 15.1 111.1 194.6 
			
			  2003   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 23.3 17.1 19.3 22.4 16.6 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 55.4 116.2 13.0 70.9 178.7 
			
			  2004   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 22.5 16.6 17.2 22.3 16.3 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 68.2 93.5 11.2 66.1 142.5 
			
			  2005   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 22.2 16.0 26.6 22.1 16.2 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 46.0 67.6 18.6 56.4 116.7 
			
			  2006   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio (4)— 21.9 16.1 29.1 21.7 16.1 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio (4)— 47.3 76.8 26.2 50.1 103.4 
			
			  2007( 5)   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	
		
			   North East GOR  England 
			   Nursery  Primary  Secondary  Nursery  Primary  Secondary 
			  1997   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 20.3 23.8 17.1 18.9 23.4 16.7 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 19.3 115.6 932.3 14.0 107.4 388.9 
			
			  1998   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 20.0 23.9 17.4 18.6 23.7 16.9 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 18.7 111.4 806.6 13.6 100.6 342.4 
			
			  1999   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 19.6 23.5 17.4 18.4 23.5 17.0 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 18.1 108.2 618.4 12.7 96.8 294.8 
			
			  2000   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 20.0 23.1 17.3 18.1 23.3 17.2 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 18.1 99.3 483.6 12.1 83.7 255.5 
			
			  2001   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 19.9 22.6 17.0 17.7 22.9 17.1 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 15.3 76.5 349.1 11.4 67.3 209.0 
			  2002   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 18.7 22.0 16.6 16.6 22.5 16.9 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 13.6 91.4 243.5 10.2 60.8 167.2 
			
			  2003   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 18.3 21.9 16.7 16.4 22.6 17.0 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 13.7 68.4 206.2 9.8 52.2 148.5 
			
			  2004   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 17.5 21.8 16.4 16.2 22.7 17.0 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 18.1 59.0 161.3 9.9 47.4 131.2 
			
			  2005   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 18.4 21.7 16.2 16.5 22.5 16.7 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 13.4 50.7 141.3 9.4 42.6 110.6 
			
			  2006   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 19.1 21.5 16.1 16.3 22.0 16.6 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 16.4 48.1 117.9 9.2 41.6 98.7 
			
			  20075   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio n/a n/a n/a 16.8 21.8 16.5 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio n/a n/a n/a 9.3 38.5 91.7 
			 n/a = not available. (1) Teaching assistants include teaching assistants, special needs support staff and minority ethnic pupil support staff. (2) Provisional 2007 parliamentary constituency and local authority data will be available on 18 May 2007. (3) Tees Valley sub-region consists of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton and Darlington local authorities. Darlington became a new authority in 1998 and is therefore not included in the 1997 figures. (4) Figures below 5. (5) Provisional.  Source: Annual School Census.

Teachers: West Bromwich

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) teachers and  (b) teaching support assistants were employed in West Bromwich East constituency in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: There were 730 full-time equivalent regular teachers employed in local authority maintained schools in West Bromwich East constituency in January 2006, the latest information available. The comparable number of support staff was 540 of which 260 were teaching assistants.
	Provisional 2007 teacher and support staff numbers at the national level were published on 26 April.

Teaching Methods

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1868W, on teaching methods, what categories of class assignment were recorded by Ofsted  (a) before 2002-03 and  (b) after 2002-03.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 17 May 2007:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	You asked, following our answer of 3 May 2007 on teaching methods, what categories of class assignment were recorded by Ofsted  (a) before 2002-03 and  (b) after 2002-03.
	The information recorded by inspectors on classes observed during inspections has been outlined overleaf in Annex A. As requested, I have included information from 1993 to the present day.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
	 Annex A
	Information recorded by inspectors on classes observed during inspections from 1993 to the present
	 1993-1996 Framework
	Inspectors recorded the following information about each class observed:
	1. Year group(s)
	2. Subject taught
	3. Number of pupils present and number on roll
	4. The numbers of boys and girls present
	5. The ability of the class, selecting from the following categories:
	Upper
	Middle
	Lower
	Mixed
	6. Where relevant, the external accreditation towards which the class was working.
	 1996-1999 Framework
	Inspectors recorded the following information about each class observed:
	1. Year group(s)
	2. Subject taught
	3. Number of pupils present and number on roll
	4. The composition of the class, or grouping, making use of the following categories:
	Groups formed in class according to age
	Mixed ability class with no grouping by ability
	Groups within a mixed ability class formed on the basis of prior attainment
	Setted class formed on the basis of prior attainment in the subject
	Banded or streamed class formed on the basis of prior attainment in a range of subjects
	Other form of organisation
	5. Where relevant, the external accreditation, for example A-level or GCSE, towards which the class was working
	6. The lesson type, making use of the following categories:
	Whole class lesson
	Group work
	Individualised work
	A mixture of the above types
	Other type of activity
	 2000-2003 Framework (effective from January 2000)
	Inspectors recorded the following information about each class observed:
	1. Year group(s)
	2. Subject taught
	3. Number of pupils present and number on roll
	4. The composition of the class, or grouping, making use of the following categories:
	Mixed ability class, with no grouping by age or ability
	Mixed ability class, with groups within the class formed by age of pupils
	Mixed ability class, with groups within the class formed by prior attainment
	Setted class formed on the basis of prior subject attainment
	Banded or streamed class formed on the basis of prior attainment in a range of subjects
	Other form of organisation
	5. Where relevant, the external accreditation, for example A-level or GCSE, towards which the class was working
	6. The lesson type, making use of the following categories:
	Whole class lesson
	Group work
	Individual work
	A mixture of any of the above three types
	Any other form of activity
	 2003-2005 Framework
	Inspectors recorded the following information about each class observed:
	1. Year group(s)
	2. Subject taught
	3. Number of pupils present and number on roll
	4. The composition of the class, or grouping, making use of the following categories:
	Mixed ability class
	An observation within a mixed ability class of an upper ability group
	An observation within a mixed ability class of an average ability group
	An observation within a mixed ability class of a lower ability group
	A class setted or streamed by ability where the pupils were within the upper ability range within the school
	A class setted or streamed by ability where the pupils were within the average ability range within the school
	A class setted or streamed by ability where the pupils were within the lower ability range within the school
	Other forms of organisation
	5. Where relevant, the broad category of external accreditation towards which the class was working and whether the course was Level 1, 2 or 3.
	 Framework from September 2005
	Inspectors record the following information about each class observed:
	1. Year group(s)
	2. Subject taught
	3. Number of pupils present and number on roll
	4. The composition of the class, or grouping, making use of the following categories:
	Mixed ability class
	Class setted or streamed by ability where the pupils are in the upper ability range within the school
	Class setted or streamed by ability where the pupils are in the average ability range within the school
	Class setted or streamed by ability where the pupils are in the lower ability range within the school
	Other kinds of organisation
	Whether the class is made up of boys, girls or is mixed gender

Vocational Guidance

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people received advice from the careers service in each year from 1990 to 2000.

Parmjit Dhanda: Information on the numbers of individuals helped is not held. However, the number of interviews given by the careers service in the financial years 1994-95 to 1999-2000 was as follows:
	
		
			   Number of interviews 
			 1994/95 (1)826,868 
			 1995/96 2,300,044 
			 1996/97 2,391,808 
			 1997/98 2,404,365 
			 1998/99 2,221,692 
			 1999/2000 2,455,948 
			 (1) Data held for Year 11 students only 
		
	
	Before 1994-95 the careers service was administered by local authorities and information on the numbers interviewed is not held.

Vocational Guidance: Young People

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consideration he has given to providing careers advice for children from the age of 12 years.

Jim Knight: The provision of careers education is a statutory requirement for students from year 7. The document "Careers Education and Guidance in England: A National Framework 11-19" provides non-statutory guidance for this provision.

William Beaumont School Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he has given any instructions or directions to Warrington borough council which have delayed or prevented the rebuilding of William Beaumont high school.

Jim Knight: It is the responsibility of each local authority to determine how funds allocated by the Department should be spent, and the Department does not intervene in this process. Accordingly, no instructions or directions have been given to Warrington borough council which have delayed or prevented the rebuilding of William Beaumont high school. It is understood, from the local authority, that William Beaumont has been accorded a high priority in future spending plans.

Young People: Magazine Press

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the evidential basis was for the statement made by Ofsted in its report Time for Change? Personal, Social and Health Education, that teenage magazines are a positive source of advice for young people; whom Ofsted consulted before making this statement; what recent representations he has received about this comment from  (a) parents,  (b) head teachers of schools and  (c) organisations; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Department has not received representations from parents, head teachers or organisations about this statement in the Ofsted report.
	Matters relating to this report, the evidential basis for judgments within it and any consultation around the specific statement are for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member on these matters and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Library.
	However, Ministers and officials have ongoing discussions with Ofsted about issues relating to PSHE.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 17 May 2007:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	You asked what the evidential basis was for the statement made by Ofsted in its report, Time for Change? Personal, Social and Health Education (HMI 070049), that teenage magazines are a positive source of advice for young people, and whom Ofsted consulted before making this statement.
	In our report we reported the views expressed by young people that their parents were often reluctant to discuss sexual matters; and that some parents were concerned about the suitability of information that young people receive from other sources, such as magazines, even when these could be useful.
	The report explains that whilst magazines aimed at young men sometimes reinforce sexist attitudes, they can also provide a source of information and advice. Young people told us during the course of 350 inspections that the 'problem pages' in magazines are a positive source of advice and reassurance for many of them. Notably, a large proportion of these magazines now stress the importance of safe sex.
	The report also commented that some magazines communicate, inaccurately, the perception that all young people are sexually active. Additionally, difficulties can arise if the messages in these magazines clash with parental and cultural norms.
	The report does not quote specific magazines but was intended to refer to a range of magazines suitable for different age groups. Our report was based largely on visits to schools over a three year period, backed by research in the area of teaching and learning PSHE.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Anzac Landings: Anniversaries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has had with  (a) Australia and  (b) New Zealand on Anzac Day.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not held any recent discussions with Australia and New Zealand regarding Anzac Day.
	The New Zealand Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade attended the Anzac ceremonies in London in April 2006 and had discussions with the then Foreign Secretary my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw). These covered both Anzac Day and the New Zealand War memorial in Hyde Park which was opened by Her Majesty The Queen on 11 November last year.

Australia: Climate Change

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the Australian Government on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed climate change and greenhouse gas emissions with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer at the first Australia/UK Ministerial Meeting held at Lancaster House on 18 December 2006. We continue to have regular dialogue with Australia on climate change issues. Most recently, Sir Nicholas Stern spoke about climate change with Australian Prime Minister John Howard during his visit to Canberra in March.

Australia: Festivals and Special Occasions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representation there is of HM the Queen at the ceremonies held to mark each public holiday, national day and ceremonial day in  (a) Australia and  (b) New Zealand.

Ian McCartney: Her Majesty The Queen is represented at all appropriate occasions by the Governors-General of Australia and New Zealand respectively, acting on the advice of those countries' Governments.

Australia: New Zealand

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether she has plans to meet the Governor General of  (a) Australia and  (b) New Zealand.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no plans to meet the Governors General of Australia or New Zealand.

Australia: New Zealand

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans she has to meet the Foreign Minister of  (a) Australia and  (b) New Zealand.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary plans to meet the Australian Foreign Minister at the Australia/UK Ministerial Meeting in Australia next year.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no present plans to meet the Foreign Minister of New Zealand.

Australia: New Zealand

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans there are for official visits to the UK by members of the Governments of  (a) Australia and  (b) New Zealand.

Ian McCartney: At present there are no firm plans for official visits to the UK by the Government of Australia.
	Present plans for inward visits by the New Zealand Government include visits by the hon. Annette King, Minister of Transport and Minister of Police, from 1-3 June; and the hon. Margaret Wilson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, from 2-7 June.

Australia: Overseas Residence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK nationals took up residence in  (a) Australia and  (b) New Zealand in each of the last 10 years.

Ian McCartney: Figures from the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship show that, from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 2006, 182,616 UK nationals have taken up residence in Australia.
	Figures from Immigration New Zealand show that, from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 2006, 80,071 UK nationals have taken up residence in New Zealand.

Iran: Nuclear Power

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the level of capability achieved by Iran in the production of fissile material which could be used in a nuclear weapon; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the likely date at which Iran will reach its stated goal of installing and operating 3,000 centrifuge machines at its enrichment facility in Natanz;
	(3)  what assessment has been made of the stage reached by Iran in the installation of centrifuges at its enrichment facility in Natanz;
	(4)  what is the latest assessment that has been made of the progress by Iran towards the mastery of uranium enrichment technology;
	(5)  pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2007,  Official Report, column 837W, on Iran: nuclear weapons, what definition she uses of mastery of enrichment technology; and what  (a) level and  (b) scale of (i) centrifuge operation and (ii) enriched uranium production is referred to.

Ian McCartney: Iran is defying calls by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, made mandatory by the UN Security Council, to suspend all uranium enrichment-related, reprocessing and heavy water-related activities. These activities are of proliferation concern because they would enable Iran to develop the capability to produce fissile material that could be used in nuclear weapons.
	Iran has produced very small quantities of enriched uranium at its pilot fuel enrichment plant at Natanz and is now installing centrifuges in the Fuel Enrichment Plant. The IAEA reported on 22 February that,
	"During meetings in Iran in January 2007, Iran informed the Agency of its plan to....continue progressively with the installation of the 18 cascades of the 3,000-machine hall and to bring them gradually into operation by May 2007".
	Most recently, in a letter to the Iranian representative to the IAEA on 18 April, the IAEA reported the information Iran had provided to inspectors that
	"Iran has put into operation eight cascades at the Fuel Enrichment Plant in Natanz and that some UF6 is being fed into those cascades".
	We now await the Director-General of the IAEA, Mohamed El Baradei's, official report on Iran's compliance with UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1747 which will give a further update of Iranian progress at the fuel enrichment plant, which is due on 23 May.
	Enriching uranium is a complex technical process which requires diagnostic testing and the running of multiple cascades over a sustained period. It remains our assessment that Iran has not mastered the process.
	We will consider next steps in light of the Director-General's upcoming report on compliance with UNSCR 1747. UNSCRs 1696, 1737 and 1747 make it mandatory that Iran suspends its enrichment-related and reprocessing activities before negotiations aimed at a long-term agreement can commence. We remain committed to a negotiated solution. We continue to urge Iran to take the steps required by the Security Council and IAEA Board, and to return to talks on the basis of the proposals presented to Iran on 6 June 2006 by EU High Representative Javier Solana on behalf of the 'E3+3'.

Luis Posada Carriles

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to the US Administration on its release of Luis Posada Carriles from detention.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not made any representations to the US Administration on its release of Luis Posada Carriles from jail.
	The question of his extradition from the US is a matter for the authorities in the US and for any country which may request his extradition.

North Korea: South Korea

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment she has made of progress in relations between North and South Korea.

Ian McCartney: The inter-Korean relationship looks to be back on track. The 20th Inter-Korean Ministerial Talks (IKMT) took place in Pyongyang on 27 February to 2 March for the first time since July 2006. The 13th round of Inter-Korean Economic Co-operation Promotion Talks also took place in Pyongyang on 18-22 April, face-to-face reunions between separated family members were held on 9 May and the next round of IKMT has been scheduled to take place this month. South Korea has said that they will be looking to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to take steps in the coming months to start implementing the 13 February Agreement and made clear that the provision of rice aid will be dependent upon this. Further progress in relations was demonstrated on 17 May when railway tests were successfully conducted between North and South Korea—this was the first time trains had operated between the two Koreas for 50 years.
	I raised the UK's commitment to the process of improving inter-Korean relations during my meeting with the DPRK ambassador on 17 May.

UN Resolutions

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government have taken to meet their obligations under Article 2 of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) on the prevention of non-state actors from financing activities to support the development of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery.

Ian McCartney: In its national reports to the 1540 Committee, the UK set out the framework of domestic legislation that relates to Article 2 of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 (2004). These national reports will be placed in the Library of the House. The UK has one of the best records in the world on implementation of UNSCR 1540 and we work constantly to ensure that all aspects of the resolution are fully implemented, including on proliferation finance. In addition, the standards agreed within the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), of which the UK is a member, help to promote the international legal framework necessary to combat illicit finance of all kinds. In February, G7 Ministers called specifically for the FATF to examine the risks involved in weapons of mass destruction proliferation finance.

Vietnam: Human Rights

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the human rights situation in Vietnam.

Ian McCartney: We are concerned at the recent arrest and sentencing of several peaceful human rights offenders in Vietnam who have been charged with "conducting propaganda". We, along with our EU partners, have made numerous representations to the Vietnamese authorities on this issue.
	Most recently, on 15 May, the EU issued a statement expressing its concern about the current situation and calling on the Vietnamese Government to release all non-violent political activists who have simply exercised their rights to freedom of expression and association.
	I raised our concerns about the arrest and detention of human rights activists with the Vietnamese Vice-Minister Le Cung Phung during the EU/Association of South East Asian Nations ministerial meeting in Nuremberg on 14-15 March. I also raised this issue with the Vietnamese ambassador on 10 May.
	We will continue to raise the question of human rights defenders, along with other human rights issues, with the Vietnamese Government, including during the EU's Human Rights Dialogue with the Vietnamese Government.

Weapons: Hezbollah

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make an assessment of the implementation of United Nations Resolution 1701, on the rearmament of Hezbollah.

Ian McCartney: There has been considerable progress on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1701, which brought the Israel/Hezbollah conflict to an end in August 2006.
	The UK continues to have concerns about breaches of UNSCR Resolution 1701, in particular on the arms embargo. In March the UN Secretary-General reported that there was mounting evidence that Hezbollah was rearming and smuggling arms across the Syria/Lebanon border.
	The UK continues to work to ensure the full implementation of UNSCR 1701. We are supporting a German-led initiative to improve border security and prevent arms smuggling across the Syria/Lebanon border. We have also provided the Lebanese armed forces with 50 Land Rovers to increase their mobility and capacity to implement UNSCR 1701. The UK has also welcomed the Secretary-General's proposal for UN assessment mission to travel to Lebanon to assess the security at the border and make recommendations.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Architecture: Registration

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will assess the merits of introducing an inexpensive appeals procedure for architects removed from the Architects Register administered by the Architects Registration Board.

Angela Smith: I am not aware that the case has been made for such a change. The Architects Registration Board procedures for investigating complaints involve an investigation and scrutiny by their investigations and professional conduct committees. The courts, to which those removed from the register can have recourse, already encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution procedures.

Architecture: Registration

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she has discussed the increased subscription rates asked for by the Architects Registration Board with the Board and ascertained their reasons for the rise.

Angela Smith: No—the setting of subscription rates is a matter solely for the Board of the Architects Registration Board (ARB) and I have had no discussions with them. The current ARB fee for registration is £78 (with effect from 1 January 2007). This compares with £76.50 for last year—an increase of 2 per cent. Fees are set to recover the full costs of the Board's work.

Architecture: Registration

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to reduce the regulation of architects administered by the Architects Registration Board.

Angela Smith: No—I have no such plans. I am satisfied that the Architects Registration Board is exercising its powers properly and proportionately.

Architecture: Registration

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with the Royal Institute of British Architects concerning the Architects Registration Board.

Angela Smith: I met the President and the President-elect of the Royal Institute of British Architects on 10 May to discuss issues they had raised about the operation of the Architects Registration Board.

Buildings: Climate Change

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to ensure that the  (a) Code For Sustainable Homes And  (B) Building Regulations take account of the effects of climate change on buildings; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The building regulations and the code for sustainable homes are both key components of the Government's strategy tackling climate change and its effects.
	The amendments made in 2006 to Part L of the Building Regulations have, for example, increased the energy performance standards for new buildings by around 40 per cent. compared with pre-2002 levels. We have also recently consulted on making all new homes zero carbon by 2016 through further changes to Part L. These actions, together with the Code for Sustainable Homes and the draft planning policy statement on climate change—should save between five and seven million tonnes of carbon by 2020. Further details on the Department's climate change policy can be found at www.communities.gov.uk.
	Building to the standards set out in the Code for Sustainable Homes will help new homes mitigate for many of the effects associated with climate change including possible water shortages, increased rainfall and flooding. Building Regulations already help address many of the impacts of climate change and will be kept under review as necessary to ensure that they continue to do so effectively.
	We are also working closely with stakeholders on what could be done to further reduce the impact of non-domestic new buildings and existing buildings on climate change.

Community Development: Government Office for London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how expenditure by new deal for communities boards is scrutinised by the Government office for London; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: holding answer 16 April 2007
	The Government office for London (GOL) has certified and authorised quarterly payments to new deal for communities (NDC) accountable bodies based on claims submitted to GOL for defrayed expenditure. Accountable bodies ensure proper supervision of expenditure through an annual audit of grant expenditure. These are audited by the Audit Commission and are subject to National Audit Office audit.
	Where any underspends or overspends are identified, GOL liaises with the accountable body and the NDC to make adjustments. GOL ensures, through its performance management of the NDCS, that expenditure plans match with business improvement plans agreed by NDC bodies. From April 2007, Communities and Local Government will take responsibility for the physical payment of NDC grant but GOL will retain responsibility for performance management.

Council House Transfers: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people living  (a) in the Chelmsford local authority area and  (b) outside the Chelmsford local authority area are on the Chelmsford housing transfer list; and what the figures were in 1997.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 23 April 2007
	Information regarding housing transfers is not held centrally. However, local authorities in England report the numbers of households (not people) on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford on 18 May 2007,  Official Report, column 977W.

Council Housing: Property Transfer

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the cost of council housing debt write off for large scale voluntary transfers for each of the last six years; and what estimate she has made for 2007-08.

Yvette Cooper: If a local authority's attributable housing debt is not cleared either in part or in entirety by receipts from an RSL through large-scale voluntary transfer arrangements, the debt that remains is transferred from the local authority sector to central Government through a payment made to the Public Works Loan Board. Overhanging debt payments to the Public Works Loans Board under these debt transfer arrangements over the last six years are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2000-01 276 
			 2001-02 0 
			 2002-03 548 
			 2003-04 91 
			 2004-05 591 
			 2005-06 386 
			 Total 1,892 
		
	
	In 2006-07 we expect overhanging debt transactions with the PWLB to total about £600 million.
	The extent of overhanging debt transferred to the central Government sector in 2007-08 is dependent on positive tenant ballots, and the completion of transfer transactions up to 31 March 2008. It is too early to estimate what these might be.

Council Tax

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Government have plans to enable local authorities to give a discount to council tax payers who pay their annual charge upfront as a lump sum.

Phil Woolas: Local authorities already have powers under Section 13 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to offer a local council tax discount. However, this power is discretionary and it is for the local authority to decide how to use it.

Council Tax: Armed Forces

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects discussions between her Department and the Ministry of Defence on exemption from council tax for members of the armed forces serving overseas to conclude.

Phil Woolas: Discussions between the Department and the Ministry of Defence on providing support for the council tax costs in England of service personnel on operations abroad are ongoing. I expect them to be concluded shortly.

Council Tax: Tax Rates and Bands

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many changes were made to council tax bandings for individual properties as a result of  (a) a material increase in the value of the dwelling followed by the sale of the property,  (b) a material increase in the value of the dwelling without any sale,  (c) an increase or decrease in the domestic use of a composite hereditament and  (d) the property being originally allocated to the wrong value band in the last year for which figures are available.

Ruth Kelly: In the year to 31 March 2007 there were 12,118 changes to council tax bandings following the sale of a property to reflect a "material increase" in value resulting from property improvements made prior to the sale date. No changes were made to reflect a "material increase" without any sale as this is prohibited by legislation. The number of changes as a result of an increase or decrease in the domestic use of a composite hereditament or the property being originally allocated to the wrong value band could be ascertained only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Consultants

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on consultants as a result of the Housing Market Renewal scheme in each of the last five years.

Yvette Cooper: Figures on expenditure on external advice including consultancy are not held centrally. The pathfinders decide on how to spend their budgets including how much to spend through staff they employ directly and how much to spend through external contracts depending on the skills required. External contracts included masterplanning and feasibility studies (approximately 40 per cent. of the overall spend), research and housing market intelligence studies (approximately 20 per cent.), and community engagement and consultation (approximately 10 per cent.). The total Housing Market Renewal Fund spend over the five year period was £888 million. The following table includes the amount the pathfinders estimate has been spent on such external contracts.
	
		
			  Financial year  Estimated HMRF external contracts (£ million) 
			 2002-03 0.46 
			 2003-04 4.19 
			 2004-05 12.00 
			 2005-06 14.86 
			 2006-07 11.64 
			 Total for 2002-07 43.15

Departments: Disciplinary Proceedings

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many grievance procedures have been initiated in her Department in the last 12 months.

Angela Smith: Eight formal grievances have been raised in the Department for Communities and Local Government (and the predecessor Department the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister) during the last 12 months (for the period April 2006 to March 2007).

Departments: Sexual Harassment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints of sexual harassment have been investigated in her Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld.

Angela Smith: There have been no formal complaints of sexual harassment raised in the Department for Communities and Local Government (and the predecessor Department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) during the last 12 months (for the period April 2006 to March 2007).

Fire Services: Armed Forces

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Green Goddess emergency fire appliances are available for use in emergencies.

Angela Smith: There are no Green Goddess fire appliances available for use in emergencies. These vehicles date from the 1950s, and do not meet performance standards that are expected in 2007. In consequence, they have been phased out of operational use across the UK. It is the responsibility of individual fire and rescue authorities to make their own arrangements for the provision of emergency cover. This includes the supply of modern appliances and equipment that are able to meet current expectations.

Green Roofs

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research her Department and its predecessors have sponsored into green roofs since May 1997.

Angela Smith: I am not aware of any research that the Department and its predecessor Departments have sponsored into green roofs since May 1997. However I understand that English Nature carried out studies into green roofs in 2002-03 "Green Roofs: their existing status and potential for conserving biodiversity in urban areas"—English Nature Report 498. A copy of the report can be found on their website at:
	http://www.english-nature.org.uk/news/news photo/Greenroofs.pdf

Green Belt

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her policy is on building on the green belt in  (a) England and  (b) Oxfordshire.

Yvette Cooper: National planning policies on green belts are set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 2. Strict planning controls on green belt land are in place and there is a general presumption against inappropriate development within green belts. Decisions on individual planning applications for development in the green belt are a matter for the local planning authority.
	The designation and review of green belt boundaries in Oxfordshire, within the national policy framework set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 2, is the responsibility of planning authorities, through the development plan process.

Green Belt

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what definition of significant her Department uses in the context of proposals for significant development in the green belt where the Secretary of State will consider recovery of planning appeals.

Yvette Cooper: Each case is considered on its merits.

HomeBuy Schemes

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans there are to expand the HomeBuy schemes.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 25 April 2007
	We are committed to helping 120,000 households into low cost home ownership between 2005 and 2010, an increase of 20,000 on our previous target.
	The Government's HomeBuy programme is made up of 3 schemes: New Build HomeBuy, Social HomeBuy and Open Market HomeBuy. Social and Open Market HomeBuy are both pilots which will run to March 2008. Along with New Build HomeBuy, we are planning to continue both schemes into 2008-11 and will be developing them further, building on experience of the pilots.
	On 21 March the Government announced the launch of a Competition later this year for new and existing lenders to join in a 2008-11 round of expanded Open Market HomeBuy. The Government will be looking for products which offer competitive terms and value for money as well as new and innovative mechanisms to widen the availability of shared equity products.

Homelessness: Hostels

Andrew Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many single homeless people are in hostel accommodation in England.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally.

Housing Act 2004

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the cost to business of implementing section 257 of the Housing Act 2004.

Yvette Cooper: The Department has made no separate assessment of the cost to business of applying Part 2 (licensing provisions) of the Housing Act to those property types defined in section 257 of the Housing Act 2004. The power to license any types of buildings falling within the scope of section 257 will be discretionary and could only be used where specific management problems are identified with the types of building to which a licensing scheme is intended to apply.

Housing: Barnet

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much is being awarded to the London borough of Barnet for the regional housing allocation 2007, broken down by category of funding; how many homes in each category in Barnet are expected to receive such funding; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: In 2007-08 the London borough of Barnet is receiving 2,128,000 from the regional housing pot in the form of supported capital expenditure (revenue) for decent homes work on its own stock. At the start of January 2006 there were 4,716 non-decent local authority properties in Barnet.
	In addition to this, in 2007-08 capital grant funding from the regional housing pot has been paid to the London borough of Barnet as lead authority on behalf of the North London Sub-Regional Housing Partnership. The award of grant breaks down as follows:
	3,070,000 for decent homes work on private sector homes occupied by vulnerable people;
	1,685,000 to bring empty properties back into use;
	1,075,000 for extensions or remodelling to provide family homes.
	A share of this sub-regional funding will be spent in Barnet but it is not yet possible to say how much as the funding is allocated within the sub-region by the participating boroughs.

Housing: Construction

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what resource is available to local residents when a residential building project is left uncompleted to the detriment of the surrounding area to force the owners  (a) to complete the project and  (b) to pass it on to an organisation willing to do so.

Yvette Cooper: Section 94 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 gives local planning authorities the power to serve a completion notice on the owner/occupier/developer of land where an approved development has been started, but work has been interrupted or left unfinished and where there appears to be no prospect of completion within a reasonable period. If the development is not completed within the time specified in the notice (no less than 12 months after the notice takes effect), then the planning permission will cease to have effect in relation to the development referred to in the completion notice that has not been carried out.
	Development must normally be started within three years of the granted planning permission and a completion notice cannot be served until this period has expired; a completion notice does not take effect unless and until it is confirmed by the Secretary of State.
	Completion notices enable local authorities to seek to ensure that development projects with planning permission are not just started but finished. Local planning authorities also have powers under section 97 and section 102 of the 1990 Act to make an Order revoking planning permission, prior to it being implemented, where they consider it expedient to do so, or to make an order requiring that any use of land shall be discontinued or continued subject to conditions, or that any buildings or works shall be altered or removed. Such orders must usually be confirmed by the Secretary of State.
	Difficulties often arise if a developer experiences financial problems in implementing a project, and a completion notice in these circumstances may be of limited practical effect. Much depends on the land ownership position as to whether an uncompleted project is transferred to another developer.

Housing: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what level of housing need was recorded in the most recent strategy statement of each local housing authority in Hampshire.

Yvette Cooper: The assessment of housing need, for both market and affordable housing, is complex. The way in which this is presented in local housing strategies and the amount of information provided varies considerably across authorities. It is not possible to adequately summarise this for all Hampshire authorities without incurring disproportionate cost.

Housing: Newcastle upon Tyne

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the impact of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder scheme on the housing market in Newcastle.

Yvette Cooper: To complement pathfinders' own evaluation work and the scrutiny of the Audit Commission, the Department has commissioned an independent national evaluation of the Housing Market Renewal programme. The evaluation baseline report, published in March 2007, revealed that considerable progress has been made by Bridging Newcastle Gateshead (BNG).

Housing: Noise

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what constitutes a significant effect on an occupant's health due to structural noise issues when applying the new Housing Health and Safety Rating regime; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 8 May 2007
	 The Housing Health and Safety Rating System Operating Guidance sets out a number of adverse health effects which excess noise can cause.
	The best understood effects of noise are psychological disturbances and physiological changes resulting from annoyance and sleep disturbance. Typical health effects are stress responses, sleep disorders and lack of concentration. Headaches, anxiety and irritability are also associated with noise induced stress, and the effects of sleep disturbance may affect the mood the following day.

Housing: Parking

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the impact of planning guidelines for building new properties with one and a half car spaces on levels of congestion in neighbouring roads; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing, published last November, gives local authorities the responsibility for deciding their policies for residential car-parking, taking account of expected levels of car ownership, the importance of promoting good design, and the need to use land efficiently. The guidance in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3, Housing which advocated residential parking standards of no more than 1.5 off-street spaces per average dwelling has been cancelled.

Housing: Rural Areas

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to stop rural de-population; what steps she is taking to encourage  (a) house building and  (b) social housing development in village communities; and what progress has been made with the Goodman Review.

Yvette Cooper: The population of rural districts grew by almost 800,000 between 1995 and 2005, and is projected to rise by another 2 million by 2029. The rate of increase in rural areas is more than double that for urban areas, which is one of the reasons we have to increase the supply of housing in rural communities.
	Following an independent review by Kate Barker in 2004, Government set a challenging ambition to increase the supply of new housing overall to at least 200,000 per annum by 2016. Good progress has already been madefrom a low of around 130,000 new homes in 2001-02, housing supply has increased to over 180,000 in 2005-06.
	Our recent Planning Policy Statement, Housing (PPS3) requires local authorities and regions to take a positive and active approach to creating sustainable rural communities, including setting housing provision figures for rural local planning authorities and housing market areas, and adopting targets for the delivery of rural affordable housing.
	PPS3 was strongly informed by the work of the Affordable Rural Housing Commission. Other issues for central Government in the Commission's report we are addressing or will consider as part of the forthcoming comprehensive spending review. Progress is detailed on the Affordable Rural Housing website managed jointly by this Department and the Department for Rural Affairs.
	www.defra.gov.uk/rural/arh/index.htm

Housing: Standards

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the tenants of homes improved under the Decent Homes Programme are informed of the SAP rating of their homes; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: At present there is no Government requirement for social tenants to be informed of the SAP rating of their homes but this will change with the implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. The legislation for this was laid in Parliament in March 2007 and will come into force in a phased manner. From 1 October 2008, energy performance certificates will have to be given to tenants each time a home is rented out.

Housing: Swindon

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has spent on improving the condition of social housing in Swindon in each year since 1995.

Yvette Cooper: The earliest year for which figures are practically available is 1998-99. Pre 1998-99 data is available at disproportionate cost only.
	The two funding streams that the Department awards for spending on council housing are supported borrowing and the major repairs allowance. Supported borrowing is where the Government pay the interest on local authority borrowing, allowing it to borrow for capital works to the stock. Under supported borrowing the amounts Swindon borough council has been awarded in Basic Credit Approvals BCA(1998-99 to 2003-04) and Housing Revenue Account Supported Capital Expenditure (SCE) (2004-05 to 2007-08) are set out in the following table. SCEs for 2004-5 and 2005-06 covered expenditure on both council stock and private sector stock, and allocations were not hypothecated. From 2006-07 onwards SCEs covered only expenditure on council housing. The major repairs allowance only came into effect in 2001-02.
	
		
			  () 
			   Supported borrowing  Major repairs allowance 
			 1998-1999 657,530 n/a 
			 1999-2000 743,000 n/a 
			 2000-2001 0 n/a 
			 2001-2002 0 5,878,121 
			 2002-2003 317,000 5,980,078 
			 2003-2004 794,000 6,096,899 
			 2004-2005 1,012,474 6,171,566 
			 2005-2006 1,293,368 6,342,804 
			 2006-2007 500,000 6,519,964 
			 2007-2008 500,000 6,665,169 
			 n/a = Not applicable 
		
	
	Grants for non-local authority social housing, provided through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme for miscellaneous works including improvements works to Registered Social Landlords' housing stock in Swindon, are as follows:
	
		
			
			 1997-98 69,600 
			 1998-99 0 
			 1999-00 35,800 
			 2000-01 0 
			 2001-02 95,600 
			 2002-03 9,800 
			 2003-04 169,700 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 0 
		
	
	Pre 1997-1998 data is only available at disproportionate cost. 2005-06 is the last year for which we have audited data.
	Local authorities are, of course, free to spend their own resources on social housing, just as registered social landlords are.

Local Authorities: Environment Protection

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what value of fines were levied in England and Wales by local authorities with respect to offences under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in each year since 1997-98.

Ben Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
	The number and value of fines relating to littering offences in England are shown in the following table.
	Under sections 92 and 94 of the Environmental Protection Act, local authorities can prosecute for a maximum 2,500 fine for failure to comply with either a litter clearing notice or street litter control notice. We do not hold data on the number or value of these fines prior to 2006. From April 2006, a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) is available as an alternative to prosecution for these offences and this data will be available in July. Data relating to offences in Wales are held by the Welsh Assembly Government.
	
		
			   Littering FPNs issues  Collected () 
			 2005-06 33,033 911,813 
			 2004-05 25,326 434,869 
			 2003-02 7,565 (1) 
			 2002-03 12,820 231,547 
			 2001-02 11,652 138,840 
			 2000-01 2,247 (1) 
			 1999-2000 2,970 39,075 
			 1998-09 4,778 63,240 
			 (1) No data available.

Local Government Finance: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the  (a) cash and  (b) percentage change has been in total external support for each London local authority since 1997;
	(2)  what the  (a) cash and  (b) percentage change has been in Government support per 1,000 people in each London local authority since 1997.

Phil Woolas: Information on the amount of and percentage change in Government funding for each London local authority since 1997, both actual and per 1,000 people, has been made available in tables which have been placed in the Library of the House.
	Government funding is defined here as the sum of specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF), formula grant (Revenue Support Grant, Redistributed business rates and Police Grant) and General Greater London Authority (GLA) Grant.
	The figures exclude grants outside AEF (i.e. where funding is not for an authority's core services, but is passed to a third party; for example, as in the case of mandatory student awards), capital grants, funding for local authorities' housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.

Local Government Finance: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which grants for which her Department is responsible have been made to Westminster city council, outside the revenue support grant, in each year since 1997-98; and what the value was of each grant.

Phil Woolas: The grants made to Westminster city council in each year since 1997-98 by this Department, as recorded by the council in the Communities and Local Government Revenue returns, are shown in the following table (all figures in 000s):
	
		
			  Grants  000 
			  1997-98 Nil 
			   
			  1998-99  
			 Other grants within AEF 50 
			   
			  1999-2000  
			 The Private Finance Initiative 341 
			  2000-01  
			 The Private Finance Initiative 524 
			 Other grants within AEF 1,014 
			   
			  2001-02  
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund 749 
			 The Private Finance Initiative 504 
			 Other grants within AEF 2,002 
			   
			  2002-03  
			 Supporting People Implementation Grant 313 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund 1,123 
			 The Private Finance Initiative 491 
			 Other grants within AEF 690 
			   
			  2003-04  
			 Local Public Service Agreement Performance Reward 36 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund 1,779 
			 Planning Delivery 51 
			 The Private Finance Initiative 472 
			 Supporting People Administration 344 
			 Supporting People Programme 18,193 
			 Other 6,791 
			   
			  2004-05  
			 Homelessness Strategies 6,896 
			 Local Public Service Agreement Performance Reward 193 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund 1,468 
			 Neighbourhood Wardens 256 
			 Planning Development 426 
			 Supporting People Administration 336 
			 Supporting People ProgrammeHousing 17,787 
			 Other 2,969 
			   
			  2005-06  
			 Homelessness Strategies 6,195 
			 Local Authority Business Growth Incentives scheme 109 
			 Local Public Service Agreement Performance Reward 61 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund 1,486 
			 Planning Delivery 394 
			 Supporting People Administration 269 
			 Supporting People ProgrammeHousing 17,681 
			 Other grants within AEF 3,050 
			   
			  2006-07  
			 Homelessness Strategies 6,500 
			 Local Authority Business Growth Incentives scheme 1,444 
			 Local Public Service Agreement Performance Reward Grant 299 
			 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund 2,347 
			 Planning Delivery 675 
			 Supporting People Administration Grant 269 
			 Supporting People ProgrammeHousing 17,022 
			 Other grants within AEF 3,108 
		
	
	The table sets out the specific grants inside aggregate external finance (AEF) (i.e. revenue grants paid for councils' core services) paid to Westminster and excludes grants outside AEF such as capital grants, funding for local authorities' housing management responsibilities, European funding, or where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area. Revenue support grant and other elements of formula grant (such as redistributed business rates and police grant) have also been excluded.
	Revenue outturn data have been used from 1997-98 to 2005-06 (the last year available) and revenue account data have been used for 2006-07.
	There are a number of smaller grants included in an Other category on the revenue returns submitted by local authorities. The totals of these are included above, although it is possible that there are grants from other Government Departments in this category. It is not possible to identify these separately within the return. The Private Finance Initiative grant has also been included above, although this will cover projects outside the policy responsibility of this Department.

Local Government Finance: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) gross and  (b) net income from capital receipts, including property and land disposals, was in each London local authority in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Smith: Information on the amount of capital receipts reported by each London local authority over the last 10 years has been made available in a table which has been placed in the Library of the House.
	Capital receipts shown are gross, excluding the portion of receipts applied in defraying the administrative costs arising from the disposal of land or housing held under Part II of the Housing Act 1985 (regulation 23(e)).

National Mobility Scheme

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what programme she will introduce to replace the National Mobility Scheme and other initiatives designed to allow tenants to carry out mutual exchanges; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Government have replaced the mutual exchange scheme, which was facilitated by Scout Solutions Projects Ltd., with a number of alternative providers offering a free of charge service. These services can be accessed via the Government's website, www.direct.gov.co.uk/socialhousing. This link also provides access to information on a wide range of housing-related matters and the full range of Government services. The Government are also providing funding to support the development of 26 sub-regional choice-based lettings schemes and one regional choice-based lettings scheme covering all London authorities. When operational these schemes should make it easier for people to move between neighbouring authorities and ultimately across regional boundaries.

Olympic Games: Greater London

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's first estimate was of the total contribution to be made from the departmental budget towards the costs of hosting the Olympic games; and what her Department's current estimate is of that cost.

Angela Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the announcement made on 15 March 2007 by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which set out in detail both the budget for the games and the background to it. A schedule has been placed in the Library of the House.
	How the Government contribution will be funded departmentally will be determined as part of the Spending Review discussions which are currently under way

Planning Permission

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons the Planning Inspectorate requires three copies of each letter of objection to planning applications; and how many such letters the Inspectorate received on average per year over the last five years.

Yvette Cooper: The Planning Inspectorate does not maintain statistics of the volume of letters received from interested persons about appeals but estimates that these number approximately 135,000 per year. The Inspectorate is required by appeal regulations to copy such letters to the appellant and the local planning authority. Nevertheless the Inspectorate recognises that some people will not have easy access to copying or computer facilities and in those cases will happily accept a single letter.

Planning: Advertising

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 2007 will be introduced in England and Wales.

Yvette Cooper: The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 came into force on 6 April. They do not apply to Wales.

Social Rented Housing

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of households faced with possession actions by social landlords in England in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2004-05.

Yvette Cooper: The following table shows the number of social landlord possession actions made, in the county courts of England and Wales in 2004-05 and 2005-06.
	
		
			  Social landlord possession actions in England and Wales in 2004-5 and 2005-6 
			   Claims Issued  Orders made (suspended and outright orders)  Warrants of possession successfully executed( 1) 
			 2004-05 131,812 90,215 24,125 
			 2005-06 127,901 86,141 23,574 
			 (1) Figures are estimates  Source: Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Social Rented Housing

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of the revenue from the sale of council houses in  (a) Castle Point and  (b) England was reinvested in new social housing in each of the last 10 years.

Yvette Cooper: The Department does not collect data on the proportion of the sale of council houses that is reinvested in the provision of new social housing.
	In general, on disposal of a council house, for instance through the right to buy, 75 per cent. of the capital receipt comes back to Government for recycling to other areas and investment, the local authority is free to use the remaining 25 per cent. for any capital purpose it sees fitincluding the provision of new social housing. Prior to 2004-05, local authorities that had housing attributable debt set aside a proportion (75 per cent. for right to buy sales) of the housing capital receipt to repay their housing debt. That mechanism was replaced in 2004 with the pooling regime, which recovers a proportion (again, 75 per cent. for right to buy sales) of housing capital receipts for investment elsewhere.
	Capital investment by central Government in affordable housing for the last 10 years generally (that is, investment in, maintenance of and provision of new affordable housing) has been greater than the value of capital receipts generated by the sale of council housing nationally. Since 1997 the Government have consistently invested more in housing than has been received in receipts.
	The following table shows:
	Spend for Castle Point from 1997-98 to 2005-06 for social rent and low cost home ownership (LCHO) through Housing Corporation Affordable Housing Programme (AHP). The figures provided are for new provision through either new build, acquisition and refurbishment.
	The right to buy receipts generated by the disposal of social housing, in Castle Point and in England.
	The amount of housing receipts (including RTB sales but not limited to those, this data also includes non-RTB sales of housing assets such as bare land) that were recycled for investment, either through the set-aside regime or through the pooling of housing capital receipts, in Castle Point and in England.
	The value of capital investment in Castle Point (local authority stock investment only) and nationally.
	
		
			   million 
			   Castle Point  England 
			   RTB Receipts  Set-Aside/ Pooling  LHCO/ AHP( 1)  LA Capital Investment  RTB receipts  Set-Aside/ Pooling  Capital Investment 
			 1997-98 No data 0.62 0.41 0.07 No data 934 1,894 
			 1998-99 0.51 0.39 0.14 0.23 911 1,085 2,098 
			 1999-2000 1.18 0.89 0.37 0.35 1,374 1,477 2,173 
			 2000-01 1.04 0.78 0.35 0.59 1,793 1,626 2,866 
			 2001-02 1.27 0.99 0.37 1.25 1,566 1,382 3,312 
			 2002-03 1.09 0.86 0.02 1.45 2,210 1,857 3,598 
			 2003-04 1.26 n/a 1.17 1.44 2,936 No data 4,685 
			 2004-05 0.54 0.42 0.96 1.53 2,575 1,718 4,767 
			 2005-06 0.65 0.47 0.26 1.42 1,545 1,076 5,151 
			  Note:  Data pre-1997-98 is available only at disproportionate cost. 2005-06 is the latest year for which we have audited data. ( 1 ) Source:  Housing Corporation

Social Rented Housing

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of each English local authority's housing stock was social housing in  (a) 1986,  (b) 1996 and  (c) 2006.

Yvette Cooper: The proportions of social housing for rent as a total of the housing stock by local authority have been tabulated and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House. Social housing is defined as those dwellings that are owned or managed by local authorities and registered social landlords (RSLs). Figures are as reported by local authorities and RSLs.

Valuation Office

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government through what data sources the Valuation Office Agency gathers property attribute information for the ZI value significant code.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 28 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 1596-97W.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Homophobia

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to tackle homophobia in football and other sports.

Richard Caborn: The Government believe that there is no place for homophobia in sport or in wider society. We fully support the work being taken forward by the National Governing Bodies of sport to ensure that equity exists for all.
	The Government's investment into sport, through the Whole Sport Plan process led by Sport England, enables NGB's to produce robust and effective equity plans. These plans aim to tackle homophobia along with other types of discrimination.
	The Equality Standard for Sport requires these bodies to demonstrate that they are addressing inequalities and making their sports more accessible to under-represented individuals, groups and communities.
	I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the London bid team on being awarded the right to host the 2008 International Gay and Lesbian Football Association World Championships. The week long tournament, which will take place at Regents Park in August 2008, will attract teams from all over the world and will have a positive impact on promoting unity and tackling homophobia.

2012 Olympics

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made in identifying which towns and cities will be selected as official hosts for competitors from individual countries participating in the 2012 Olympics.

Richard Caborn: Good progress has been made.
	London 2012 has received over 700 applications from facilities across the UK which wish to feature in their Pre-Games Training Camp Guide, and is now carrying out an assessment and selection process.
	Facilities will be notified of their inclusion in the Guide at the beginning of 2008which will be distributed to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) in August 2008.

2012 Olympics

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps are being taken to ensure that the Olympic facilities are constructed from sustainable materials and in an environmentally-friendly fashion.

Richard Caborn: The aim of the planning and development of the Olympic Park is to deliver not only the best Olympic Games and Paralympic Games ever, but ensure that they are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable too, leaving a lasting legacy for the Lower Lea Valley and the UK as a whole.
	In order to deliver this aim, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the body charged with delivering the infrastructure for the Games, has been consulting a wide range of stakeholders resulting in a number of commitments published in the ODA's sustainable development strategy in January. These commitments include:
	reuse or recycle 90 per cent. of demolition material;
	at least 20 per cent. of construction materials from a reused or recycled source;
	use 25 per cent. recycled aggregate for permanent venues;
	all sites to operate in accordance with the Considerate Constructors scheme and the Civil Engineering Environmental Quality Assessment and Award scheme to manage environmental issues during design, enabling and construction works; and
	publication of a Design and Construction Environmental Standard, in conjunction with the Code of Construction Practice in the Park Planning Application.
	With the site preparation work already well under way, the ODA is exceeding the first commitment, with over 95 per cent. of 10,827 tonnes of demolition materials from the Olympic Park being recycled or reused so far.

2012 Olympics

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what consideration her Department has given to enabling the public to engage directly with the Olympic authorities.

Richard Caborn: The Government are committed to making the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games a UK-wide celebration that engages as many people as possible from around the country in planning and participating in a wide range of events.
	In partnership with the other Olympic stakeholdersthe Greater London Authority, the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, the British Olympic Association and the Olympic-Delivery Authoritywe are pursuing a programme of public engagement including regular events within the five Olympic boroughs to allow communities to discuss arrangements with organisers of the London Games, quarterly public meetings around the country, and an annual Roadshow touring the UK each summer until 2012.
	I will also shortly be publishing a document outlining the vision for the legacy of the 2012 Games and explaining the opportunities for everyone to participate.

2012 Olympics

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what roles and responsibilities  (a) UK Sport and  (b) the British Olympic Association have in (i) preparing for and (ii) delivering elite success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.

Richard Caborn: UK Sport is the Government's high performance sports agency, investing both Exchequer and lottery funding to prepare and support our Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes in the years leading up to each Games. It is therefore UK Sport's role to lead the development of high performance sport in this country, and to create the environment in which our sports and athletes can succeed in the build up to London 2012 and beyond.
	Through its no compromise approach, resources are targeted at those sports and athletes most likely to succeed and win on the world stage. UK Sport is currently planning to invest an average of 100 million every year through to 2012, supporting around 1,500 athletes in 24 Olympic and 19 Paralympic sports. Their leadership role in terms of athlete preparation also extends to the provision of dedicated support services and the development of specialist areas such as its Elite Coach and Technology and Innovation programmes.
	To succeed in leading sport to world class success, UK Sport works in partnership with the other Home Country Sports Councils and Institutes, as well as the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the British Paralympic Association.
	The role of the BOA is solely focused on delivering success at the Olympic Games (with the British Paralympic Association playing a similar role at the Paralympics). It has the role of preparing Team GB for a unique competitive environment every four years and of maximising the potential of the athletes when they arrive. The BOA is responsible for selecting the athletes that comprise Team GB in conjunction with the governing bodies.
	The BOA has no role in the preparation of the athletes in the years building up to an Olympic Games, nor does it have any influence over the way in which funding is invested across the sports through UK Sport's World Class Performance Programmes.
	Operationally officials of UK Sport and BOA work together with the National Governing Bodies to ensure that there is a seamless transition between athlete preparation and Games-time preparation. It is vital for the success of our high-performance operations that the work of the two organisations does not cut across or duplicate the other.

Valuable Books and Manuscripts

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will give guidance to libraries on arrangements to ensure that valuable books and manuscripts deposited for safekeeping are treated appropriately and kept safe.

David Lammy: It is the responsibility of individual libraries to care for their collections and safeguard them for future generations. British Standard 5454 establishes a benchmark for the care of archival documents, and a number of Government bodies provide advice and guidance, including the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, the British Library, and the National Archives.

Football Clubs: Governance

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to meet the Football League authorities to discuss the governance of football clubs.

Richard Caborn: I have no current plans to meet with the Football League to discuss the governance of football clubs.
	While governance is primarily a matter for football itself, we have been clear that the football authorities and clubs must demonstrate modern, competent governance and financial transparency if they are to protect the future integrity of the game.
	Good progress has already been made and I particularly welcome the FL's recent introduction of fit and proper person criteria for directors, and FA requirements around the long-term financial stability of clubs.

Tourism

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent steps her Department has taken to promote tourism in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: DCMS invested over 50 million in VisitBritain's marketing and support work for the tourism industry in 2006-07. This was part of the 311 million which the wider public sector put into tourism across the UKmore than ever before.
	The Department is now working with its partners in the industry, and in regional and local government, to put tourism at the centre of preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, and will shortly publish a comprehensive strategy to shape its work to that end.

Gambling

James McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Government are taking to protect young and vulnerable people from gambling addiction.

Richard Caborn: The Gambling Act 2005 will see the protection of children and vulnerable people placed at the heart of gambling regulation for the first time.
	The measures it introduces include a new criminal offence, making it illegal to invite or permit children to gamble, and a requirement for gambling operators to comply with tough social responsibility measures to protect the young and vulnerable from gambling addiction.

Gambling

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which gambling, betting and casino companies  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials have (i) met and (ii) spoken to on the telephone since 21 March 2007.

Richard Caborn: Since 21 March 2007, departmental Ministers have met representatives of Ladbrokes plc.
	Since 21 March 2007 officials have met or spoken on the telephone to employees of a number of companies with interests in the gambling, betting and casino sectors, in most instances in their capacity as representatives of relevant trade associations. Comprehensive records of telephone conversations are not kept. The companies involved include:
	Astra Games
	Bally Technologies
	Barcrest
	Bell Fruit Games
	Betfair
	Coral
	Dreamland Leisure Ltd
	Electrocoin
	Gala Coral Group
	Games Media
	Harbour Park Amusement Park
	HB Leisure
	IGT Casino Ltd
	Inspired Gaming Group
	International Game Technology
	Ladbrokes
	London Clubs International
	Mitchell and Butler's
	Mumbles Pier
	Paddy Power
	Party Gaming
	Rank Group
	Sky Bet
	Stanley Bet International
	Stanley Leisure
	Talarius
	Tote
	William Hill.
	In addition, officials have attended wider industry events (for example, the annual general meeting of the Bingo Association) which included participants from a number of relevant companies. Officials have also met or spoken to representatives of a small number of independent bookmakers.

Television Call-in Programmes

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the regulation of television call-in programmes.

Shaun Woodward: Responsibility for the regulation of these services rests with the independent regulators, Ofcom and ICSTIS. In response to recent concerns, ICSTIS has set out a range of actions aimed at restoring public trust in premium rate services. In addition, Ofcom is finalising its inquiry into the use of premium rate services in television programming. Separately, ICSTIS and Ofcom are also investigating specific cases and if these expose serious failures of compliance the regulators have the power to impose a range of sanctions on service providers.

Lottery Funding

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much lottery funding was awarded to village halls in North Yorkshire in  (a) 1997 and  (b) each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Richard Caborn: Lottery distributors made grants to village and community halls in North Yorkshire of 346,000 in 1997; 136,000 in 2004; 134,000 in 2005 and 277,000 in 2006. Other Lottery grants will have benefited halls with shared community use.

Lottery Funding

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received from the Big Lottery Fund on the impact of Olympic funding proposals on resources available to the BLF.

Richard Caborn: Prior to the Secretary of State's announcement on 15 March, she and DCMS officials held discussions with representatives from the Big Lottery Fund including its chair. These were informed by a detailed exchange of information. This dialogue is on-going and the Big Lottery Fund, along with other lottery distributors, will soon be consulted formally on the draft statutory instrument required to enable the transfer of funds.

Betting: Fraud

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many governing bodies have signed up to the code of practice launched in 2006 to tackle betting cheats.

Richard Caborn: 13 sporting governing bodies have confirmed that they have signed up to the Integrity in Sports Betting 10 Point Plan.

Bingo

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures she has considered introducing to support the bingo industry.

Richard Caborn: The Gambling Act 2005 introduces a range of measures designed to support the bingo industry and other sectors of the gambling industry. These include:
	removing the 24 hour rule, which means it is no longer necessary for players to wait a day before being able to play bingo;
	removing the membership requirement, though clubs will still be able to operate on a membership basis if they so wish;
	doubling the maximum stake permitted on jackpot gaming machines in bingo halls from 50p to 1 and increasing the maximum prize on category C gaming machines from 25 to 35;
	allowing rollovers in bingo games, which will create the potential for higher prizes; and
	from September 2007, no longer requiring bingo halls to return all stakes as prizes, creating the potential for innovation in the way the game is structured.

Cultural Heritage: Climate Change

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research her Department has conducted into the impact of climate change on the United Kingdom's heritage sites and historic environment.

David Lammy: My Department financed an UNESCO climate change expert meeting in March 2006, which produced the Strategy to Assist State Parties to Implement Appropriate Management Response, adopted at the 30th World Heritage Committee in 2006. DCMS is also looking to initiate a project, in consultation with its NDPBs, which will record and summarise their current activities to mitigate and support adaptation to climate change and produce an estimate of the Department's and the NDPBs' carbon footprint.
	In 2002 English Heritage commissioned the Centre for Sustainable Heritage (CSH) to carry out a scoping study on climate change and the historic environment, published in 2005; and contributed to CSH's stakeholders' dissemination and scientific research report, Engineering Historic Futures, published in 2007. English Heritage is currently running a series of research projects addressing separate aspects of the climate change agenda, including the assessment of the effect of coastal erosion on historic settlements.

Cultural Heritage: Planning

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what advice her Department gave to the Department for Communities and Local Government on heritage during the drafting of the Planning Bill;
	(2)  how many meetings were held between officials in her Department and officials in the Department for Communities and Local Government on heritage during the drafting of the Planning Bill.

David Lammy: DCMS has been closely involved throughout the development of proposals for a Planning Bill. Officials also worked closely on the drafting of their respective White Papers. DCMS officials will also be members of the inter-departmental Planning Bill steering group.

Cultural Heritage: Protection

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research her Department is conducting into protecting the setting of historic landscapes and heritage sites.

David Lammy: English Heritage is carrying out a major national programme of historic landscape characterisation that provides the basis for evaluating impacts of development on the setting of historic landscapes. In addition, they are in the process of commissioning a strategic study of setting in the context of the forthcoming Heritage Bill and their developing conservation principles.

Cultural Heritage: Protection

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if her Department will incorporate means of protecting the setting of historic landscapes and heritage sites into future heritage protection legislation.

David Lammy: Any future heritage protection legislation to enact the reforms proposed in the White Paper, Heritage Protection for the 21st Century, will contain provisions to manage the protection of registered buildings and archaeological sites through a unified heritage asset consent, to be administered by local planning authorities. It is intended that when considering whether to grant planning permission or heritage asset consent for development or works which affect a registered building or archaeological site the local planning authority (or the Secretary of State, as the case may be) shall be obliged to have special regard to the desirability of preserving the historic asset or its setting or any features of special architectural, archaeological or historic interest it possesses.

Cultural Heritage: Seas and Oceans

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what advice her Department gave to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on marine heritage during the drafting of the Marine Bill;
	(2)  how many meetings were held between officials in her Department and officials in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on marine heritage during the drafting of the Marine Bill.

David Lammy: DCMS has been closely involved throughout the development of proposals for a Marine Bill and the preparation of the Marine Bill consultation document. Officials also worked closely on the drafting of their respective White Papers. DCMS officials are also members of DEFRA's inter-departmental Marine Bill steering group.

Departments: Sovereign Strategy

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many meetings  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from her Department held with Sovereign Strategy in each year between 1997 and 2006.

David Lammy: A search of DCMS' ministerial diaries revealed no such engagements for current Ministers since their arrival in the Department. To search diaries of former DCMS Ministers for the period 1997 to 2006 would incur disproportionate cost. We have received nil returns from the Department's officials.

Gambling: Legislation

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received on the impact on local authorities of the Gambling Act 2005; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The Department has worked closely with local authorities and their representative bodies on the implementation of the Gambling Act. We have received many representations from local authorities in this context.

Gambling: Legislation

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her most recent estimate is of the cost to business of implementing the requirements of the Gambling Act 2005.

Richard Caborn: The estimated costs to business were set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment which was published in April 2005 with the Gambling Act 2005. In addition, we prepare impact assessments for each element of the secondary legislation required to implement the Gambling Act 2005 and these are published with the related Explanatory Memorandum document on the Office for Public Sector Information website and separately in the Better Regulation section of the Department's website www.culture.gov.uk.

Gambling: Legislation

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will bring forward proposals for an extension to the deadline for compliance with the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure that businesses do not have to make physical changes to premises until after peak season 2007.

Richard Caborn: It remains the Government's intention to bring the Gambling Act 2005 fully into force on 1 September 2007.

Sports: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what resources the Government have provided to the Sport for All initiative; and what resources have been allocated for the initiative in each of the next three years

Richard Caborn: The Government are not aware of a current initiative called Sport for All. Therefore the Government have provided no resources and have no plans to provide any resources to this initiative. However, Sport for All was the equivalent of the brand name for The Sports Council before the Sport England brand was launched in 1999.

PRIME MINISTER

European Union: Conferences

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer will accompany him to the EU Summit in June.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the press briefing given by my official spokesman on 17 May 2007. A transcript of this is available on the No. 10 website http://pm.gov.uk/output/Pagell737.asp, and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

European Union: Treaties

William Cash: To ask the Prime Minister whether he plans to sign a European Treaty before he leaves Office.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Minister for Europe gave to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) on 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 779W.

Ministerial Responsibility

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister which Minister would take lead responsibility for the operation of Government in the event of the Prime Minister's unforeseen incapacity; and, in the absence of that Minister, which Minister would then take responsibility.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) on 9 December 2003,  Official Report, column 374W.

Treasury

George Osborne: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the report on the future of the Treasury drawn up by Lord Birt in 2005.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 20 January 2005,  Official Report, columns 1037-8W.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

10 Downing Street: Smoking

David Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans she has to implement regulations on the requirement of displaying no smoking notices in relation to the entrance to No. 10 Downing Street; and if she will make a statement.

Hilary Armstrong: The Downing Street complex forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office estate. From 1 July 2007, the Cabinet Office intends to fully comply with the requirement of the Health Bill 2006 for displaying no smoking notices.

Charities: Cultural Heritage

Paul Holmes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many cultural and heritage organisations were registered as charities in the United Kingdom in each year since 1997.

Edward Miliband: This is a matter for the Charity Commission as the Government department responsible for the regulation of charities in England and Wales. The chief executive of the Charity Commission will write to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library. Charity law and regulation in Scotland and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter, and is the responsibility of the relevant Parliament and Ministers.

Charities: Finance

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment she has made of the likely effect on third sector organisations of the reallocation of lottery funding to pay for the 2012 Olympics.

Edward Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Mr. Evennett) on 16 May 2007,  Official Repo rt, column 795W.

Department of Health: Standards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1393W, on Department of Health: Standards, who the members are of the capability review group of the Department of Health.

Hilary Armstrong: The members of the Department of Health Capability Review team are:
	Margaret Aldred, Director General, Cabinet Office; Mark Lowcock, Director General, Department for International Development; Rob Whiteman, Chief Executive, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham; Keith Satchell, former Group Chief Executive, Friends Provident plc; Mike Clasper, Non Executive Director, ITV plc and former Chief Executive, BAA plc.

Departments: Manpower

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many staff in the Cabinet Office funded by the public purse are classified as people without posts.

Hilary Armstrong: There are 20 Cabinet Office staff who are technically between posts as their positions have been abolished, and are thus members of the Department's Priority Talent Pool (PTP). All of these are engaged in either their existing role or on project work until a new permanent position is identified.

Departments: Paper

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what percentage of waste paper from 10 Downing street has been recycled in each of the last 10 years.

Edward Miliband: The Downing street complex forms part of the Cabinet Office estate. Since the Cabinet Office began recording comprehensive waste data in 2002-03, 100 per cent. of waste paper generated is recycled. This is achieved through encouraging Cabinet Office staff to use the recycling facilities provided. In addition, the Cabinet Office materials recovery facility is able to capture and recycle any paper that is placed in general waste bins.

Departments: Training

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  which firms and external consultants the Cabinet Office has used for  (a) anti-bullying training and  (b) diversity awareness training in the last 12 months;
	(2)  how much the Cabinet Office spent on  (a) anti-bullying training and  (b) diversity awareness training in the last year for which figures are available.

Hilary Armstrong: In the last 12 months, the following external firms have been used by the Cabinet Office to raise awareness of diversity, which includes bullying and harassment:
	Berkshire Consultancy Ltd
	Symetra Ltd.
	In the last 12 months Cabinet Office has spent 32,000 in raising awareness of diversity, including bullying and harassment.

Members: Correspondence

Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when she expects the Minister for the Third Sector to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells of 4 April 2007.

Edward Miliband: I replied to the hon. Member on 17 May 2007.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: West Bromwich

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to tackle alcohol misuse in West Bromwich East constituency.

Caroline Flint: The Government are committed to tackling alcohol misuse and reducing alcohol related harms and this was reaffirmed in the Choosing Health White Paper. The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England was published in March 2004 and the Department subsequently published Alcohol Misuse InterventionsGuidance on Developing a Local Programme of Improvements in November 2005, to support local delivery of alcohol interventions.
	Currently, some 217 million is being spent by primary care trusts (PCTs) on alcohol treatment; and an additional 15 million has been allocated to PCTs to improve alcohol interventions from 2007-08 onwards. NHS West Midlands reports that Sandwell PCT will be investing nearly 1 million over the next three years to double their capacity in alcohol counselling services as part of their local area agreement stretch target. Sandwell PCT also has extensive programmes in place for prevention of alcohol related ill health and crime.

Antibiotics

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the  (a) total consumption of antibiotics in the NHS and  (b) net cost to the NHS of prescribing antibiotics in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: Most antibiotics are classified under sections 5.1, 11.3.1 and 13.10.1 of the British National Formulary. Information on antibiotics dispensed in the community in England is provided in the table on this basis.
	
		
			   Prescription items (thousand)  Net ingredient cost (000) 
			 1997 51,686.3 185,393.2 
			 1998 47,655.0 176,280.7 
			 1999 43,548.9 190,385.6 
			 2000 41,728.2 185,233.6 
			 2001 42,840.2 176,460.3 
			 2002 41,678.3 177,952.9 
			 2003 42,446.0 182,721.9 
			 2004 41,335.5 184,715.0 
			 2005 41,916.8 174,949.3 
			 2006 41,639.1 184,941.5 
			  Source: Prescription Cost Analysis system 
		
	
	The national health service also makes considerable use of antibiotics (systemic antibacterials) in hospitals. The estimated cost for the years available is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Estimated cost (000) 
			 2001 186,592.7 
			 2002 203,664.8 
			 2003 221,229.1 
			 2004 236,305.6 
			 2005 228,304.0 
			  Source: IMS HEALTH: Hospital Pharmacy Audit

Anti-depressants

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions for anti-depressants were dispensed in the community in each year since 1997; and how many of those were dispensed to children in each year.

Caroline Flint: Anti-depressant drugs are classified under section 4.3 of the British National Formulary and the information in the following table is provided on this basis. Estimated figures are based on a sample of 1 in 20 prescriptions and have been grossed up to reflect the population totals and rounded.
	
		
			   BNF 4.3 -prescription items dispensed (thousand)  Estimate of prescription items dispensed for children (thousand)  Percentage dispensed to children 
			 1997 16,822.6 88 0.5 
			 1998 18,424.5 84 0.5 
			 1999 20,108.1 83 0.4 
			 2000 22,021.8 95 0.4 
			 2001 24,342.7 110 0.5 
			 2002 26,329.3 120 0.5 
			 2003 27,658.0 110 0.4 
			 2004 28,995.5 94 0.3 
			 2005 29,389.9 110 0.4 
			 2006 31,038.0 110 0.4 
			  Source: Prescription cost analysis system.

Asthma

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions for asthma;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to ensure that all patients with asthma have a written personal action plan;
	(3)  if she will estimate the savings which would accrue to the NHS if primary care trusts with the highest rates of hospital admissions for asthma were to reduce their admissions to the average rate.

Ivan Lewis: The new general medical services contract was launched in February 2003. The contract includes a specific quality indicator for treatment and care of people with asthma; based on:
	a register of patients diagnosed with, and prescribed drugs for, asthma;
	a record of patients aged eight years and over where diagnosis confirmed by spirometry or peak flow measurement; and
	a record of asthma review within past 15 months.
	It is the responsibility of local health bodies to ensure that patients living with asthma are offered care plans and regular reviews.
	I have no plans to estimate the possible savings to the national health service from such a proposed reduction in the admission rates for asthma.

Cancer: Drugs

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will make a statement on  (a) funding and  (b) availability of Cetuximab for people diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer;
	(2)  what guidance she has issued to primary care trusts on providing funding for the use of the drug Cetuximab in cases of metastatic colorectal cancer.

Rosie Winterton: On 24 January 2007, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance to the national health service on the use of cetuximab for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.
	NICE'S guidance did not recommend cetuximab as a treatment option for metastatic colorectal cancer. However, the guidance states that patients who were receiving cetuximab should have the option to continue to do so until they and their consultants decide that it is the right time to stop treatment.
	It will be for individual primary care trusts to decide whether to fund cetuximab for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer in the light of NICE'S recommendations.

Cancer: Waiting Lists

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in reducing waiting times for the treatment of  (a) cancer and  (b) heart disease; and what the average waiting time is for treatment of each condition in (i) Newcastle Primary Care Trust area, (ii) North Tyneside Primary Care Trust area and (iii) England.

Rosie Winterton: Over the past year, the national health service has made excellent progress on cancer waiting times with full achievement of both the 31-day target and the 62-day target. In quarter 3, 2006-07, performance nationally against these standards was 99.6 per cent. and 96.3 per cent. respectively. For the same period, the performance of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne hospitals NHS trust against these targets was 99.6 per cent. and 96.1 per cent. respectively.
	Provisional data at 31 March 2007 indicate that 5,967 people in England were waiting for a heart operation, none of whom were waiting over three months. 136 of these were waiting for treatment at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne hospitals NHS trust.

Carers: Finance

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was  (a) allocated to and  (b) spent by each local authority in England to provide services for carers in the last year for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: A table showing the funds allocated to councils in the carers grant in 2006-07 and 2007-08 has been placed in the Library.
	The grant is no longer ring-fenced and the Department does not collect data about how much each council spends supporting carers. However, councils do have a duty to support them and they should be taking carers' needs into account when planning and commissioning all services.

Clostridium Difficile

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to publish data relating to cases of  Clostridium difficile in all those aged two years and over for each NHS trust in England; and for what reasons she does not plan to include such cases of  Clostridium difficile in the  Clostridium difficile mandatory surveillance system.

Ivan Lewis: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) publishes data regarding the mandatory surveillance scheme for  Clostridium difficile associated disease (CDAD) on its' website: www.hpa.org.uk/hpa/news/articles/press_releases/2007/070426_clostridium _mrsa.htm. The scheme began in January 2004 and up until 31 March 2007 all acute NHS trusts had to report all cases of CDAD for patients aged 65 years and over.
	Since 1 April 2007 it is mandatory for all acute NHS trusts to report all cases of CDAD in all patients aged two years and over. HPA plan to publish first quarter data (1 April-30 June 2007) on all cases of CDAD in patients aged two years and over, in October 2007.

Dental Services: West Midlands

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists were employed in  (a) West Bromwich East constituency and  (b) the West Midlands region in each of the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: Numbers of national health service dentists in West Bromwich East constituency and the former Birmingham and the Black Country strategic health authority (SHA) from 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2006 are available in annex E and G of the NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006. The report is available in the Library and online at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-activity-and-workforce-report-england-31-march-2006
	Information on the dental work force under the new dental contractual arrangements introduced on 1 April 2006 is published every quarter by The Information Centre for health and social care. These data are not comparable with the historical data prior to this date.
	The latest data available are in annex G (number of dentists), within annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England Quarter 3:31 December 2006 report.
	Data are only available at SHA and primary care trust level. To provide these data at constituency level area would incur disproportionate cost. The report is available in the Library and online at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/dental06q3/Ouarterly%20Publication%20Q3%202006-7%20Annex%203.xls

Departmental Expenditure

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of expenditure by her Department in each of the Government office regions in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has two executive agencies.
	 The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
	The MHRA's total spend for the financial year 2005-06 was 74.8 million. This is not split into regions as the MHRA has no regional offices. The MHRA's accounts are published annually and the latest covering the financial year 2005-06 was published in October 2006 and can be accessed online through the following link:
	www.mhra.gov.uk/home/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGEuseSecondary=truessDocName=CON2025135ssTargetNodeId=382
	 The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA)
	This information is not collected. PASA does not hold records of spend in each of the Government regions.

Departments: Ministerial Red Boxes

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many ministerial red boxes her Department bought in each of the last five years; and how much each cost;
	(2)  what tendering process is used to decide which company supplies ministerial red boxes to her Department.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 8 May 2007
	The Department orders red boxes from Banner Business Supplies as and when they are needed. Ministerial boxes are used by successive Ministers over many years.

Departments: Public Appointments

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what appointments to public positions Ministers have made of persons employed by Secure Healthcare in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: On 1 April 2007, Julie Dent, the Chair of Secure Healthcare, was appointed Chair of the London Probation Service.

Diabetes: Screening

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1601W, on diabetes: screening, how many people offered retinopathy screening were screened for diabetic retinopathy in  (a) each year since 2003-04 and  (b) the most recent period for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: The following table shows the number of people with diabetes receiving screening for diabetic retinopathy, broken down by years.
	
		
			   Number of people with diabetes receiving screening for diabetic retinopathy( 1) 
			 2003-04 (2)753,997 
			 2004-05 1,076,388 
			 2005-06 1,232,043 
			 (1) Data from local delivery plans returns.  (2) Data for year 2003-04 was an incomplete return. 
		
	
	Latest data for December 2006 shows that 1,203,639 people with diabetes received screening for diabetic retinopathy in the previous 12 months.

Diamorphine

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diamorphine prescriptions were dispensed in the community in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: Information on the number of prescription items for diamorphine dispensed in the community in England is in the following table.
	
		
			   Diamorphinenumber of prescription items (thousand) 
			 1997 116.5 
			 1998 114.6 
			 1999 105.9 
			 2000 99.3 
			 2001 95.9 
			 2002 96.0 
			 2003 98.6 
			 2004 102.9 
			 2005 60.8 
			 2006 65.6 
			  Source: Prescription Cost Analysis system

Doctors: Training

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what  (a) estimate she has made of the impact on the number of doctors being trained and  (b) assessment she has made of the impact on the training given to those who secure places on the Modernising Medical Careers programme.

Rosie Winterton: We believe there will be more doctors in training in 2007 than previously. Training will be enhanced under Modernising Medical Careers as it will provide structured programmes of training to reflect the needs of patients and the national health service.

Drugs: Counterfeit Manufacturing

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have  (a) been admitted to hospital and  (b) died as a result of taking counterfeit medicines in each of the last 10 years.

Caroline Flint: The Department holds no statistics which record hospital admissions or deaths from taking counterfeit medicines. However, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which has responsibility for investigating reports of counterfeit medicines, has found no evidence of any deaths in the United Kingdom caused by counterfeit medicines.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the 54.5 million spending announced for capacity building purposes in the field of drug treatment has been allocated to buildings used for the treatment of young people.

Caroline Flint: The national panel received 76 bids for the additional capital funding agreed by the Department to improve the capacity and outcomes of inpatient and residential rehabilitation services. There were comparatively few bids submitted that were specifically for young people and, of these, none were scored highly enough to be awarded funding against the published criteria.

Gastroenteritis

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of rotavirus gastroenteritis were recorded in each primary care trust in England in each year since 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We do not hold this information centrally.

Health Services: Asylum

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account was taken of the denial of secondary healthcare to refused asylum seekers in the Department's report Human Rights in HealthcareA Framework for Local Action; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The recent Department publication Human Rights in HealthcareA Framework for Local Action is intended to assist national health service trusts to develop and apply human rights based approaches in their organisations in order to provide better services for everyone. It is not a source of legal advice or guidance on specific issues.

Health Services: Wandsworth Prison

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what tender process was used to award the contract to provide healthcare services at HM Prison Wandsworth to Secure Healthcare; what the cost of the contract is expected to be; what  (a) outcome measures and  (b) performance indicators the contract provides; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: It is for local primary care trusts (PCTs) in conjunction with other stakeholders, to make assessments of current and future health needs, including prison health care, and to commission services accordingly. Therefore the tendering process is a matter for Wandsworth PCT.

Health Services: Wandsworth Prison

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she plans to take to monitor the accuracy of data provided by Secure Healthcare under the contract to provide healthcare services at HM Prison Wandsworth; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: It is for local primary care trusts (PCTs) in conjunction with other stakeholders to monitor data provided under contract to provide health care services at HMP Wandsworth. Therefore the monitoring of data for health care services at HMP Wandsworth will be a matter for Wandsworth PCT.

Heart Diseases: Screening

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress the United Kingdom National Screening Committee made at its meeting in March 2007 on screening for men aged 65 for abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Rosie Winterton: The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) has advised that screening for men aged 65 for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) can be recommended in principle subject to further work, particularly on the appropriate configuration of treatment services and the provision for men to make an informed choice about whether to undergo screening. At its meeting in March 2007 the NSC considered further work undertaken by the AAA Screening Working Group. More detailed work will now be undertaken on the practical issues that would be involved in implementation.

Incontinence: Medical Equipment

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to publish plans on the provision of incontinence and stoma appliances; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We will consider whether to publish plans on the provision of incontinence and stoma appliances after we have evaluated responses to the consultation relating to Part IX of the Drug Tariff, which closed on 2 April.

Mental Health Services

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what incentives exist in the Quality Outcomes framework of the new General Medical Services contract to offer physical health checks and physical health promotion activities to patients with a mental health problem; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Under the Quality and Outcomes Framework, there are 23 points available in the mental health indicator set for a health review. This review should include evidence that the patient has been offered routine health promotion and prevention advice appropriate to their age, gender and health status.

Mental Health Services: Essex

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding the North Essex Mental Health Partnership Trust received from  (a) her Department and  (b) local primary care trusts in each of the last five financial years.

Andy Burnham: National health service trusts do not normally receive funding from the Department, but receive income for the provision of services from commissioners, principally from primary care trusts (PCTS).
	In 2001-02, the trust received most of its income from health authorities and primary care groups but did not receive income from PCTs.
	The following table shows data for the years 2001-02 to 2005-06, which is the latest year for which information is available.
	Prior to 2004-05, amounts shown may not be all of the income from the Department or from PCTs because not all income was analysed in this way.
	
		
			  North Essex Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 
			  000 
			   Income from Department of Health  Income from PCTs 
			 2001-02 0 0 
			 2002-03 0 64,371 
			 2003-04 0 66,376 
			 2004-05 118 76,545 
			 2005-06 244 87,284

Mental Health Services: Prisons

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts have received funding for dealing with prisoners with psychiatric and mental health problems; how much they have received; how they have spent the money; how many prisoner patients have received treatment as a consequence; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Mental health services have been a key part of the Government's recent reforms of health services in prisons, and the Department is now investing over 20 million a year in national health service mental health in-reach services for prisoners.
	All primary care trusts with prisons in their locality receive a proportion of this funding as part of their allocation for providing healthcare services to prisoners.
	There are now 102 community mental health teams working within prisons, with some 360 extra staff employed. Since 2006, every prison in England and Wales has had access to these services. Information on how many prisoners receive these services is not collected centrally.
	This year, the Department will make an additional 4 million available to aid further improvements to mental health in-reach and child and adolescent mental health services, based on a national needs assessment.

Midwives

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many newly-trained midwives  (a) obtained and  (b) did not obtain a job in midwifery within six months of graduating in each year since 1995.

Ivan Lewis: The Department started collecting data from each strategic health authority (SHA) on the employment prospects of health care graduates in their area, for the first time in 2006.
	The most recent SHA returns indicate that 20.1 per cent. of midwifery graduates who graduated between May and September 2006 are estimated not to have found work nationally. This ranges from 44.2 per cent. in Yorks and Humber to 0 per cent. in the north-east.

NHS Spine Project

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether a privacy impact assessment  (a) has been produced and  (b) is planned for the NHS spine project.

Caroline Flint: No. We do not believe that such an assessment would serve any useful purpose at this stage of the project.
	The aim of a privacy impact assessment is to ensure that privacy is considered at every stage of a project involving the handling of information, and that action is taken to mitigate against identified risks to the privacy of individuals. While this is clearly a useful tool for many projects where these matters might otherwise be neglected, the need to safeguard privacy and confidentiality is a necessary deliverable of any health record system, and the management of risk in this area has been a core deliverable of the national health service care records service (the spine project).
	The security safeguards around access to patient data held within the new care records will provide an unprecedented level of assurance compared with existing electronic and paper systems. The Department has also produced what we believe is the most comprehensive privacy statement of any public service in the form of the NHS care record guarantee for England, setting out 12 commitments the NHS makes to patients in order to protect their confidentiality.
	The Information Commissioner has confirmed that, properly deployed, the new systems have the potential to allow the NHS to better meet the various informational and privacy challenges which it faces than the systems currently in existence, and that he is content with the general approach being taken with the care records service.

NHS: Drugs

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost of unused medications was in  (a) England and  (b) each region in the last 12 months.

Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Wirral South the (Ben Chapman) on 14 May 2007,  Official Report, column 606W.

NHS: Natural Gas

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency has held discussions with Gazprom on the supply of gas to parts of the NHS.

Andy Burnham: The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency's energy team has met with Gazprom Marketing and Trading Limited to discuss the requirements of the framework agreement for the supply of gas to large NHS hospital sites.

NHS: Public Appointments

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many members of the National Director for Health and Work's team have been appointed.

Rosie Winterton: As the National Director for Health and Work, Dame Carol Black has two staff members who provide direct support to her.
	In this role, Dame Carol also works closely with policy staff from the Department, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Health and Safety Executive involved in the Government's Health, Work and Well-being Strategy.

Nurses

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1140W, on nurses, whether she has taken steps to encourage more men to work as nurses, midwives and health visiting staff; how much has been spent advertising jobs in publications likely to reach a predominantly male audience; whether targets are in place for the recruitment of male employees; whether specific training courses are offered only to male employees; whether any jobs have been advertised under section 47(1a) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975; and if she will make a statement on the number of male nursing staff working in the national health service.

Rosie Winterton: Careers in the national health service are promoted by NHS Careers. The service consists of a telephone and email helpline, website, literature and supporting services for NHS employers, schools, colleges and careers advisors. Case studies of real life stories featured by NHS Careers show both men and women and reflect the diversity of the NHS workforce.
	Advertising jobs is a matter for local employers. However, employers are encouraged to use NHS jobs, an on-line system for advertising vacancies in the NHS, which is both cost effective and accessible. NHS jobs has 7,129 new vacancies from NHS employers across England and Wales.
	There are no targets for the recruitment of male employees; local organisations are responsible for planning and recruiting their workforce to meet the health service needs of their local population. However, workforce census figures in the following table show a growing trend in the number of qualified male nurses, health visitors and midwives between 2004 and 2006.
	The Department does not collect information on specific training courses.
	
		
			  Qualified Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff - broken down by gender 2004-06 
			  Percentage 
			  2006  Male  Female  Unknown ( 1) Male ( 1) Female 
			 All qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 38,242 304,942 31,354 11.1 88.9 
			 Nurse consultant 136 654  17.2 82.8 
			 Modern matron 204 1,767 11 10.4 89.6 
			 Manager 1,303 5,707 148 18.6 81.4 
			 Registered nurseChildren 531 11,710 955 4.3 95.7 
			 Registered midwife 176 22,937 1,356 0.8 99.2 
			 Health visitor 176 11,507 351 1.5 98.5 
			 District nurse (1(st) level) 418 9,239 351 4.3 95.7 
			 District nurse (2(nd) level) 65 1,101 96 5.6 94.4 
			 School nurse 9 1,100 20 0.8 99.2 
			 Other 1(st) level(2) 34,283 229,596 26,690 13.0 87.0 
			 Other 2(nd) level(2) 921 9,279 1,375 9.0 91.0 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage 
			  2005  Male  Female  Unknown ( 1) Male ( 1) Female 
			 All qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 37,820 306,857 36,580 11.0 89.0 
			 Nurse consultant 118 605 1 16.3 83.7 
			 Modern matron 173 1,427 6 10.8 89.2 
			 Manager 1,365 5,639 92 19.5 80.5 
			 Registered nurseChildren 530 11,844 989 4.3 95.7 
			 Registered midwife 142 23,003 1,663 0.6 99.4 
			 Health visitor 173 12,191 454 1.4 98.6 
			 District nurse (1(st) level) 434 10,148 340 4.1 95.9 
			 District nurse (2(nd) level) 49 973 123 4.8 95.2 
			 School nurse 6 930 7 0.6 99.4 
			 Other 1(st) level(2) 33,700 229,349 28,705 12.8 87.2 
			 Other 2(nd) level(2) 1,130 10,748 1,774 9.5 90.5 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage 
			  2004  Male  Female  Unknown ( 1) Male ( 1) Female 
			 All qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 36,573 300,042 38,756 10.9 89.1 
			 Nurse consultant 97 533 1 15.4 84.6 
			 Modern matron  
			 Manager 1,499 6,457 52 18.8 81.2 
			 Registered nurseChildren 555 12,296 873 4.3 95.7 
			 Registered midwife 100 22,830 1,914 0.4 99.6 
			 Health visitor 173 12,517 613 1.4 98.6 
			 District nurse (1(st) level) 425 10,646 664 3.8 96.2 
			 District nurse (2(nd) level) 43 944 105 4.4 95.6 
			 School nurse 1 845 10 0.1 99.9 
			 Other 1(st) level(2) 32,459 220,684 29,513 12.8 87.2 
			 Other 2(nd) level(2) 1,221 12,290 2,925 9.0 91.0 
		
	
	Qualified Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staffbroken down by gender 2004-06.
	The percentage of all qualified male nurses, health visitors and midwives has increased from 10.9 per cent. in 2004 to 11.1 per cent. in 2006.
	The number of male nurse consultants has increased from 97 in 2004 to 136 in 2006.
	The number of male registered midwives has increased from 100 in 2004 to 176 in 2006.
	The number of male 1(st) level nurses has increased from 32,459 in 2004 to 34,283 in 2006.

Obesity: Health Services

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether she plans to allocate any points in the quality and outcomes framework of the General Medical Services contract to encourage general practitioners  (a) to provide advice on weight management and  (b) to refer patients to weight management services;
	(2)  whether she plans to allocate more points to the management of obesity in the new quality and outcomes framework of the General Medical Services contract.

Caroline Flint: Currently there are eight points available in the quality and outcomes framework (QOF) which measures the body mass index of patients as the indicator in the obesity clinical domain. There are currently no plans to increase the number of points for the obesity indicator in QOF or to include additional incentives in QOF for advice on weight management or referral to weight management services. However, continuous improvement is an underpinning concept of the current contractual arrangements with general practitioners and we will keep under review the quality indicators within the QOF.

Plastic Surgery

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints have been received by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency about dermal fillers in the last five years; and what investigations have been undertaken by the agency as a result.

Caroline Flint: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has received 24 incident reports within the last five years involving dermal fillers. The agency assesses and investigates each adverse incident report on a case by case basis and issues appropriate advice as necessary to the health service. Most of the reports received referred to the development of nodules or lumps in the vicinity of the injections, which is a known complication associated with dermal fillers. From an analysis of these reports, MHRA could not identify any trends for any particular product.

Pregnancy: Screening

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will bring forward legislation to ban the use of tests which can tell an unborn baby's gender at six weeks; what recent representations she has received on such tests; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Prospective parents may desire to know the sex of a foetus for a variety of reasons. However, antenatal sexing of the foetus is not a routine part of antenatal care nor has the Department issued any guidance to hospitals on whether or not parents should be told the sex of their baby. The Government recognise that there is concern that the availability of information about the sex of their foetus could lead some women to seek an abortion if the foetus is of a particular sex. However, there is no evidence that this is happening in the United Kingdom. The grounds on which abortion may lawfully be carried out are set out in the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended). These do not include foetal sex alone. Although the Government are aware of companies offering foetal sex identification through genetic tests they have received no recent representations relating to this issue.
	The availability of tests on samples collected privately also raises important questions of privacy. The Human Tissue Act 2004 makes it an offence to use a person's tissue for DNA analysis without their consent. The Government continue to keep the developing area of genetic tests under review but have no current plans to bring forward further legislation in this area.

Ritalin: Children

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were prescribed ritalin in each of the last five years; and what evidence has been reported of its  (a) utility and  (b) side effects.

Caroline Flint: Information on the number of children prescribed ritalin is not collected. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended that drug treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) should only be initiated by an appropriately qualified health care professional with expertise in ADHD and should be based on a comprehensive assessment and diagnosis. Continued prescribing and monitoring of drug treatment may be performed by general practitioners, under shared care arrangements. Drug therapy should only be part of a comprehensive treatment programme that includes advice and support to parents and teachers.
	Information provided by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on the number of reported adverse reactions to ritalin for the last 10 years is in the following table.
	
		
			  Year received by the MHRA  Number of reports of adverse  reactions to  r italin 
			 1997 22 
			 1989 23 
			 1999 28 
			 2000 39 
			 2001 50 
			 2002 59 
			 2003 102 
			 2004 65 
			 2005 90 
			 2006 95

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust: Surgery

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of people in Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust area waited more than  (a) three months,  (b) six months and  (c) a year for an NHS operation in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is not available in the format requested. However, data on the number and percentage of finished admission episodes for selected admission methods (valid waiting list and booked cases) for an operation by time waited grouping are shown in the following table. The data relate to treatment provided by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and are for 2005-06.
	
		
			  Time waited grouping  Number of finished admission episodes  Percentage of finished admission episodes 
			 Up to three months 33,127 82.0 
			 Over three to six months 5,777 14.3 
			 Over six months to one year 1,352 3.3 
			 Over one year 158 0.4 
			 Total 40,414 100.0 
			  Notes: 1. Admission Methods '11 Elective: from waiting list' and '12 Elective: booked' 2. OPCS4.2 main operative procedure codes between A01 and X59 3. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed). 4. The time waited groupings are mutually exclusive. To calculate the total or percentage for e.g. those waiting over three months, the values for 'Over three to six months', 'Over six months to one year' and 'Over one year' should be added together. 5. A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 6. The main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, e.g. time waited, but the figures for all operations count of episodes give a more complete count of episodes with an operation. 7. Time waited statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension. 8. HES are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust: Nurses

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many epilepsy specialist nurses were employed by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust in each of the last three years.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Government have supported the development of a range of specialist roles within nursing. However, it is for local trusts to deploy specialist nurses in accordance with their local needs and to determine the skill mix within the nursing work force including specialist epilepsy nurses.

Social Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when her Department will set a direction of travel for the social care strategy referred to in paragraph 4.9 of her Department's 2007-08 business plan, published on 30 March; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Social care is currently facing a number of major challenges, particularly around demographic change and rising public expectations. As a result, the Chancellor announced in the pre-Budget report 2006 that the Treasury would be assessing proposals for the future of social care put forward by Derek Wanless for the King's Fund, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and others. The criteria for assessing these proposals are whether they are affordable, whether they are consistent with progressive universalism and whether they promote independence, dignity, well-being and control. The Treasury is currently assessing the proposals and the Department will continue to work with them to take this work forward and consider the strategic direction of social care.

Strokes: Health Services

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the National Director for Heart Disease and Stroke will be responsible for implementing the National Stroke Strategy for England; and whether additional financial resources will be allocated to the strategy.

Rosie Winterton: The National Director for Heart Disease and Stroke assumed clinical leadership for stroke in February 2006. He provides the clinical direction and will lead the development of the National Stroke Strategy, but the national health service and social care services will have the responsibility for delivering the stroke strategy.
	The Department will shortly be launching a wide-ranging consultation on the strategy. The strategy's further development will take into account the responses to the consultation. It is not possible at this stage to estimate the resource implications of the strategy in its final form.

JUSTICE

Administration of Justice: Interpreters

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many people were translating through the National Agreement on arrangements for the use of interpreters, translators and language services professionals in investigations and proceedings within the Criminal Justice System  (a) in 1997 and  (b) at the latest date for which the figure is available.

Harriet Harman: The information requested is not collected centrally by criminal justice agencies. Such information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Her Majesty's Courts Service is giving consideration to the routine collection of data relating to interpreting and translation services used in court.

Administration of Justice: Interpreters

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what support her Department is providing to the National Register of Public Service Interpreters through the National Agreement on arrangements for the use of interpreters, translators and language services professionals in investigations and proceedings within the Criminal Justice System.

Harriet Harman: The Ministry of Justice, among other agencies involved in the criminal justice system, has reaffirmed, through the revised National Agreement issued in January this year, that the National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI) is the preferred source of interpreters for non-English speaking defendants and witnesses in criminal investigations and proceedings. All Crown and magistrates' courts that require it have licensed access to the NRPSI directory of interpreters and have been directed that the standard requirement is to use this list wherever possible.

Administration of Justice: Interpreters

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what steps her Department plans to take to ensure the availability of interpreters and translators for individuals of all ethnic backgrounds taking part in court proceedings in rural areas.

Harriet Harman: The Office for Criminal Justice Reform is leading a project to improve the supply of suitable, security-checked interpreters across the whole criminal justice system. The measures under consideration include the increased use of technology, such as video conferencing and increasing the pool of qualified interpreters through targeted training and targeted advertising campaigns. In January this year the OCJR issued a revised National Agreement on Arrangements for the use of Interpreters and Translators in the criminal justice system, to help ensure that only suitably qualified interpreters and translators are used in criminal proceedings. I have placed a copy of the Agreement in the Library.

Administration of Justice: Interpreters

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what percentage of interpreters employed by the courts in the last period for which figures are available were sourced from the recommended register of the National Register of Public Service Interpreters.

Harriet Harman: The information requested is not collected centrally or as a matter of routine by the courts. Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) is giving consideration to the routine collection of data relating to interpreting and translation services used in court.

Administration of Justice: Interpreters

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the cost to her Department is for each interpreter employed  (a) directly by her Department,  (b) through outsourcing arrangements and  (c) through agencies.

Harriet Harman: Interpreters employed to interpret in court proceedings are paid in accordance with the Terms and Conditions for Individuals providing Face-to-Face Interpretation Services, which were introduced on 28 February 2007 and can be located on the website of the Home Office Commercial Directorate. There are no outsourcing arrangements for interpreter provision operating within the courts at this time.

Administration of Justice: Interpreters

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how much the Department for Constitutional Affairs spent on  (a) interpreters and  (b) translators in each of the last 10 years.

Harriet Harman: Information on how much the Department for Constitutional Affairs spent on interpreters and translators in each of the last 10 years can be provided only by gathering information held locally. This would take longer than the time available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Administration of Justice: Interpreters

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many people were employed as  (a) interpreters and  (b) translators by the Department for Constitutional Affairs in each of the last 10 years.

Harriet Harman: The information requested is not collected centrally by the agencies of the Department for Constitutional Affairs (now part of the Ministry of Justice). Such information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Contact Orders

Annette Brooke: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice when she plans to bring into force those sections of the Children and Adoption Act 2006 which provide for more sanctions to be available to the courts when a contact order is not complied with.

Harriet Harman: The Government expect that provisions in Part 1 of the Children and Adoption Act 2006 in relation to family assistance orders and risk assessments will be implemented from October 2007. The timetable for the implementation of the remaining provisions of part 1 of the Act, including the provisions relating to enforcement of contact orders, is currently under consideration. The Government will be making a written ministerial statement shortly outlining the timetable for implementation of the remaining provisions in Part 1 of the Act.

Custodial Treatment: Courts

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007,  Official Report, column 75W, on custodial treatment: courts, what the cost of scoping studies has been since 1 January 2007.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Since 1 January NOMS has paid 120,000 (excluding VAT) to a single contractor. This does not include any costs for scoping studies.

Departments: Consultants

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how much the Department for Constitutional Affairs spent on consultancy and professional services in 2005-06.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In 2005-06, the Department for Constitutional Affairs spent 15.6 million0.43 per cent. of its budget on consultancy. This included expenditure by its executive agencies as follows:
	
		
			
			 DCA HQ 10.1 million 
			 Her Majesty's Courts Service 5.0 million 
			 Tribunals Service 0.4 million 
			 Public Guardianship Office 53,000 
		
	
	While details of expenditure on other professional services were held by individual business managers, they were not collected centrally for this period. The Department for Constitutional Affairs bought a range of such services across its many business areas. An exercise to identify and collate such expenditure could be conducted only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Costs

Theresa May: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the estimated total cost is of establishing the Ministry of Justice.

Vera Baird: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 8 May 2007 to the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois),  Official Report, column 129W, which provides the estimated total cost of establishing the Ministry of Justice.

Departments: Costs

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the cost has been of establishing the Ministry of Justice.

Vera Baird: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 8 May 2007 to the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois),  Official Report, column 129W, which provides the estimated total cost of establishing the Ministry of Justice.

Departments: Costs

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how much the formation of the Ministry of Justice  (a) cost the Department for Constitutional Affairs and  (b) has cost the Ministry of Justice.

Vera Baird: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to the hon. Member for Rayleigh, of 8 May 2007,  Official Report, column 129W, which provides the estimated total cost of establishing the Ministry of Justice.

Departments: Netmums Website

Anne Main: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice whether her Department has provided funding for the netmums website.

Harriet Harman: My Department has not provided funding to the netmums website.

Electoral Register

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice if she will make a statement on progress towards the Co-ordinated Online Register of Electors.

Bridget Prentice: The first phase of the CORE project is almost complete and all local authorities are now able to output their electoral register data in a consistent format. Planning work for the second phase is under way, and the CORE team is now considering options for developing the CORE information system.
	The operational provider of the CORE services, the CORE keeper, has not yet been appointed and the Ministry of Justice is currently in discussion with the Electoral Commission about the role. In parallel, the Ministry is considering other suitable organisations in the event that the Electoral Commission decides not to take on the role of CORE keeper.
	After the CORE keeper is appointed, the Ministry will have more details on the overall timescales for the delivery of CORE services as the keeper will need to be involved in future planning.

Employment Tribunals Service

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what plans she has to review the rules governing employment tribunals.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Ministry of Justice has no plans to review the rules governing employment tribunals. However, there may be changes to the rules consequential upon the outcome of the current review by the Department for Trade and Industry of the Dispute Resolution Regulations 2004. The Department for Trade and Industry continues to keep the rules under review on an ongoing basis.

Family Courts

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice if she will assess the effectiveness of the family court system.

Harriet Harman: The family justice system is constantly under consideration and review. HMICA and Ofsted are planning later this year to inspect aspects of the family justice system looking in particular at the experience of users in the family courts, including the service delivered by CAFCASS.
	The Government have also recently commissioned a research project to establish whether there is a genuine issue behind anecdotal evidence (put forward during the parliamentary passage of the Children and Adoption Act 2006) that some non-resident parents are awarded minimal contact with their children without good reason. A final report is expected in early 2008.

Family Courts

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice when she expects to make an announcement on family courts openness.

Harriet Harman: The Confidence and confidentiality: Improving transparency and privacy in family courts consultation paper was published on 11 July 2006 and put forward a number of proposals with the aim of improving public confidence in the family courts, and safeguarding the privacy of those involved in proceedings.
	We hope to publish a second consultation paper outlining a package of recommendations shortly.

Family Courts

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  how many enforcement orders under the Children and Adoption Act 2004 have been made by courts in England and Wales in each month since June 2006;
	(2)  how many contact order warning notices under section 3 of the Children and Adoption Act 2004 have been made by courts in England and Wales in each month since June 2006.

Harriet Harman: The Children and Adoption Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 21 June 2006. Both the attachment of warning notices to contact orders and the making of enforcement orders where contact orders are not complied with are dependent upon the implementation of Part 1 of the Act.
	The Government expect that provisions in Part 1 of the Children and Adoption Act 2006 in relation to family assistance orders and risk assessments will be implemented from October 2007. The Government will be making a written ministerial statement shortly outlining the timetable for implementation of the remaining provisions of Part 1 of the Act, including those relating to warning notices and enforcement orders.

Fines: Victim Support Schemes

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what sanctions there are for use against members of the judiciary who decline to impose the surcharge on defendants ordered to pay a fine.

Harriet Harman: Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Judicial Discipline (Prescribed Procedures) Regulations 2006, and the Complaints (Magistrates) Rules 2006, allegations of judicial misconduct may be investigated. After the prescribed procedures have been followed, the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice may be of the view that such conduct amounts to misconduct, and they may, in accordance with s108 of the Constitutional Reform Act, advise, warn, reprimand, suspend or remove the Judicial Office Holder from office.

Fines: Victim Support Schemes

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what estimate she has made of the effect of the introduction of the victim surcharge on the fines collection rate.

Harriet Harman: It is estimated that there will be little or no impact on the fines collection rate following the introduction of the victims surcharge.

Jury Service: Mental Health

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the timetable is for the public consultation on the mental health criteria for jury duty referred to in the report of the Social Exclusion Unit of June 2004.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The subject matter of this consultation has proved problematic. The principal difficulty lies in devising a test that would allow those mentally disordered persons who are capable of undertaking jury service to serve, while excluding those who are incapable of serving, and yet be clear, easily understood and readily operable in practice. We remain committed to this consultation but it is not possible to give a specific timetable.

National Offender Management Service: Manpower

Edward Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many offender managers employed by the National Offender Management Service are working with offenders in  (a) the community and  (b) custody; what the ratio is of offender managers to offenders in each case; and what plans she has to increase the number of offender managers in each category over the next four years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The latest published figures indicate that there are over 6,200 offender managers in post across the 42 probation areas. The total caseload is over 170,000 in the community with an additional 59,000 in custody. Most offender managers will have a mixed caseload of community and custodial cases. A detailed breakdown cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
	Caseload sizes vary depending upon the nature of the cases being supervised. An offender manager responsible primarily for complex, high risk cases will have a much smaller caseload than an offender manager primarily responsible for less complex, low risk cases. The range of caseload sizes within a probation area may therefore be a wide one, perhaps from under 20 to over 80.
	The number of offender managers appointed is a matter for probation boards to decide from within their overall allocation of resources. Decisions have yet to be made about resource allocations to probation boards for 2008-09 onward.

Parliamentary Papers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what  (a) procedures are set in train and  (b) sanctions are available in circumstances where a Minister does not lay a paper before Parliament within the timetable set in statute.

Jack Straw: I have been asked to reply.
	Departments' procedures for ensuring adherence to statutory obligations, including failure to lay a paper before Parliament within a statutory timetable, and the statutory sanctions available would depend on the nature of the obligation and the terms of the relevant Act.
	Ministers remain accountable to Parliament for the decisions and actions of their Departments, including adherence to statutory obligations.
	I should also draw the hon. Members attention to Mr. Speaker's statement on 14 May 2007,  Official Report, column 400.

Pentonville Prison: Corruption

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what discussions she has had with  (a) the Director General of the Prison Service and  (b) the governor at HM Prison Pentonville on the leaking of the second report into corruption amongst prison staff at the establishment; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There are 14 separate investigations of individual members of staff at Pentonville. They are not listed in any particular order and so it is not clear to which investigation the hon. Member is referring. I am unaware of any leak, as is the governor, and it follows that I have had no discussions with the director general or the governor.

Police Custody

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners have been detained in police cells since the end of Operation Safeguard; what the cost has been of detaining those inmates; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Operation Safeguard continues to be in use.

Prison Service: Finance

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice if she will make a statement on the financial performance and management of HM Prison Service during 2006-07.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The financial performance of HM Prison Service for 2006-07 will be reported in its Annual Report and Accounts that are due to be laid before the House and published ahead of the summer parliamentary recess. These accounts are currently being audited by the National Audit Office; it would not therefore be appropriate to offer further comment at this point in time.

Prison Service: Homophobia

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  what the legal costs were of cases arising following homophobic incidents within HM Prison Service in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what the cost was of awards at each prison establishment made as a consequence of homophobic incidents within HM Prison Service against  (a) governors,  (b) staff and  (c) inmates in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information is not collated in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Foreigners

Ian Taylor: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners held in UK prisons are non-UK citizens.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Figures on the numbers of foreign national prisoners in all prison establishments in England and Wales at the end of March 2007, the latest date for which figures are available, can be found in the following table.
	Corresponding figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland can be obtained from the Scottish Executive and the Northern Irish Prison Service respectively.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to errors with data and processing. Because the detailed population breakdowns have been scaled and also rounded to the nearest whole number, individual components may not sum to the totals.
	
		
			  Prisoners held in all prison establishments in England and Wales 31 March 2007 
			   Numbers of foreign nationals 
			 All nationalities 79,745 
			 Foreign national 11,168 
			 UK nationals 67,716 
			 Not recorded 860

Prisoners: Mentally Ill

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  how many inmates in prisons in the UK were diagnosed with a mental health problem in each of the last 15 years;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the number of inmates in prisons who have mental health problems; and what plans there are to relocate them to more appropriate facilities.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is not held centrally.
	A survey, Psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics, 1998), showed that 90 per cent. of prisoners have at least one significant mental health problem, including personality disorder, psychosis, neurosis, alcohol misuse and drug dependence. A copy is available in the Library.
	Prisoners who are assessed under the Mental Health Act as being too severely mentally ill for prison are transferred to hospital. The Department and Home Office issued joint guidance in October 2005 to mental health trusts and prisons in order to improve this process. In 2006, 961 prisoners, with mental illness too severe for prison, were transferred to hospital, 33 per cent. more than in 2002.
	We are also addressing the length of waits for these transfers. A survey taken by the Department for the quarter ending December 2006, showed that 38 prisoners recommended for transfer were waiting over 12 weeks for a transfer to hospital. This situation is improving, as 62 such prisoners were waiting at June 2005 and 44 at June 2006.

Prisons

Michael Howard: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry for Justice pursuant to her answer of 7 November 2006,  Official Report, column 1425W, on prisons, how many prison places have been provided under contracts signed by this Administration; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Since May 1997, over 20,000 prison places have been delivered, of which 5,397 were provided by the private sector under agreements reached post May 1997.
	The following table shows the number of prison places provided through the PFI initiative:
	
		
			  Location  Date of contract  Certified Normal Accommodationpre May 1997  CNA post May 1997  Overcrowdingpost May 1997  Total under current Administration  Total Op Cap( 1) 
			 Altcourse(2) 20 December 1995 838  180 180 1,018 
			 Rye Hill 23 July 1999  800 45 645 645 
			 Forest Bank 6 July 1998  800 264 1,064 1,064 
			 Lowdham Grange(2) 7 November 1996  504 60 564 564 
			 Dovegate 27 September 1999  800 60 860 860 
			 Ashfield(3) 1 July 1998  400 0 400 400 
			 Peterborough 4 February 2003  840 108 948 948 
			 Bronzefield 20 December 2002  450 0 450 450 
			 Parc 4 January 1996 614  286 286 1,086 
			 Total   4,394 1,003 5,397 7,035 
			 (1) Op Cap as at 26 January 2007. (2) 308 place houseblocks currently under constructionplaces available in phases from April 2007. (3) HMP Ashfield transfers to the Youth Justice Board in April 2007.  Note: The Certified Normal Accommodation is the uncrowded capacity of the establishment. Operational capacity is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime. It is determined by operational managers on the basis of operational judgment and experience. Within the private prison estate the CNA is built into the contract and defined as available prisoner places. When the prison exceeds the CNA up to a pre-agreed level (Operational Capacity) these extra places are defined as 'Additional Prisoner Places' and is achieved by overcrowding.

Prisons: Overcrowding

David Anderson: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the cost has been of Operation Safeguard.

Gerry Sutcliffe: NOMS has made payments totalling 1,432,722.87 in respect of the use of Operation Safeguard in 2006-07. In addition to this there are some further invoices to be submitted by police forces and some invoices that have been submitted which are being processed.

Re-offenders: Mentally Ill

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what percentage of prisoners re-offended within three years of their release in each of the last 15 years; and what percentage of those that re-offended had been diagnosed with mental health problems in each of those years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Re-offending rates for three years following release from prison are not routinely calculated. Re-offending rates have historically been calculated over a two year period and the most recent figures for adults released from prison in England and Wales are shown in the following table.
	 Two year re-offending rates of adults released from prison, based on the first quarter of each year
	
		
			   Re-offending rate (Percentage) 
			 2000 64.8 
			 2002 67.4 
			 2003 65.8 
			 2004 64.7 
		
	
	The percentage of these who suffered from a mental illness is unknown as this information is not on the Ministry of Justice's extract from the Police National Computer, which is used to calculate these figures.

Sentencing

Edward Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many offenders were sentenced to indeterminate sentences of imprisonment for public protection in each year since the relevant provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 were implemented; and how many such prisoners have been  (a) released in line with their tariff minimum sentence and  (b) kept in custody beyond their tariff minimum sentence, broken down into those in custody (i) six months over their tariff and (ii) in increasing increments of six months over their tariff.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Public protection sentences were first provided in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and implemented for relevant offences committed on or after 4 April 2005. The numbers(1) of prisoners received into prisons in England and Wales under Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection (IPP) were 700 in 2005-06 and 1,710 in 2006-07. There have been five prisoners released from IPP sentences as at 30 April 2007. Four of these were released after the tariff period had expired. In another case the prisoner was released before tariff-expiry on compassionate grounds due to ill health. Complete information on those held in custody beyond their tariff period is not available centrally.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	(1) Rounded to nearest 10.

Supreme Court

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the estimated total cost is of establishing the new Supreme Court in the Middlesex Guildhall, including costs already incurred; and what her estimate is of the eventual cost of creating seven new courtrooms elsewhere in central London to replace those currently in the Guildhall.

Harriet Harman: The costs involved in the establishment of a new Supreme Court are subject to ongoing negotiations with our preferred bidders: Kier Group for the renovation of Middlesex Guildhall and Geoffrey Osborne (Building) for the new court rooms at Isleworth. As the Lord Chancellor stated in his written ministerial statement of 17 October 2006, we will be in a position to make a statement on costs once we have reached financial close with the respective bidders.

Supreme Court

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice when she expects the Supreme Court to be functional.

Harriet Harman: The Supreme Court implementation programme is on target to deliver the Supreme Court at the Middlesex Guildhall in October 2009. This date is subject to obtaining clean planning and listed building consent and reaching Financial Close with our preferred bidder.

Witnesses: Protection

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what measures she is taking to improve the treatment of vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government have introduced a range of measures to support and assist vulnerable and intimidated witnesses before, during and after the trial. These include:
	giving Victim Support 30 million a year to support victims and witnesses of which 2 million is ring-fenced to provide enhanced services for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses;
	setting up, since 2004, joint Crown Prosecution Service/Police Witness Care Units to provide tailored support for witnesses;
	implementing, under the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, a statutory Code of Practice for Victims of Crime that requires criminal justice agencies to provide an enhanced service for vulnerable or intimidated victims;
	placing witness protection on a statutory footing in the Serious Organised Crime and Policing Act 2005; and
	phased implementation of a range of special measures in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 to assist vulnerable or intimidated witnesses give their best evidence in court. These include video-recorded evidence in chief, evidence by live link, screens round the witness box, giving evidence in private and communication aids. The intermediary special measure is currently being piloted in eight areas in advance of national roll out.

Witnesses: Queen Elizabeth II

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what constitutional constraints prevent Her Majesty the Queen appearing as a witness in a  (a) criminal court case,  (b) civil action and  (c) coroner's court case.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Queen cannot be compelled to give evidence before any court as it is an established constitutional principle that they are her own courts and have no jurisdiction over her.

Written Questions

Michael Howard: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice when she will reply to question 118823, on prison places, tabled by the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe on 31 January 2007.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have answered the right hon. and learned Gentleman's question today.

TREASURY

EC Budget: Rebates

William Cash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to introduce legislation to implement the Own Resources Decision of December 2005.

Edward Balls: Legislation to implement the Own Resources Decision in respect of changes to the EC budget agreed at the December 2005 European Council will be introduced by means of a European Communities (Finance) Bill and will be brought forward as parliamentary time allows.

Insurance: Social Rented Housing

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will establish a target for availability of insure with rent schemes in greater numbers of local authorities and housing associations;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with  (a) the insurance industry,  (b) local government and  (c) housing associations on promoting insure with rent schemes among uninsured households;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on increasing the availability of insure with rent schemes in local authorities and housing associations.

Edward Balls: The Government recognise the important role of insurance as a financial tool, enabling people to protect against potential losses arising from risks to assets like home contents or a car.
	The Treasury has recently announced that insurance will be consideredalongside affordable credit and savingas part of the Government's commitment to ensuring that everyone is able to plan for the future and cope with financial pressure.
	The Government have asked the Financial Inclusion Taskforce to work with the Association of British Insurers and the insurance industry, to investigate how insurance can be made an integral part of financial inclusion policy. This work will consider ways of building on existing initiatives, such as insurance with rent schemes, and explore the viability of new initiatives, such as risk-reduction approaches. Local government and housing associations are important stakeholders and will also be involved in discussions.
	All Ministers with an interest in financial inclusion have been invited to join a ministerial working group, which will determine detailed priorities for financial inclusion policy, including insurance, and publish a detailed action plan after the CSR.

Sanctions: Iran

William Hague: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment has been made of the compliance cost to the UK financial sector of the implementation of the provisions of UN Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: The financial restrictions imposed by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747 are implemented in the UK through The Iran (Financial Sanctions) Order 2007. When enacting this secondary legislation a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) was carried out that considered the costs to the financial sector.
	A copy of this RIA can be found on the OPSI website.

Sanctions: Iran

William Hague: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what funds have been frozen in the UK in respect of UN Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: Bank Sepah and Bank Sepah International are the only Iranian entities designated by the UN under Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747 to have so far been identified as holding assets in the UK. These assets were frozen on 24 March 2007 under the provisions of the Iran (Financial Sanctions) Order 2007. We are currently evaluating the frozen assets held in the UK. The release of detailed information is subject to banking confidentiality and disclosure arrangements.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Average Earnings

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average weekly income of the lowest earning decile was in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06.

Jim Murphy: The median weekly equivalised income for the lowest decile in 2004-05 was 144 (before housing costs) and 91 (after housing costs). This is expressed in 2005-06 prices.
	The information requested for 2005-06 will be shown in the revised HBAI 2005-06 release.
	The Secretary of State made a written statement to Parliament on 23 April 2007,  Official Report, column 20WS, on why the statistics are being revised.

Better Backs Campaign

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Better Backs campaign.

Anne McGuire: HSE has undertaken a detailed independent evaluation of its Better Backs media campaigns in 2005 and 2006. In both cases awareness of the campaign messages was raised among both employers and employees. In addition HSE and local authority stakeholder engagement and inspection activity highlighted the likely health problems associated with manual handling activities, in particular back problems and the remedies that could reduce them. Looked at over the longer-term, HSE has campaigned around musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), including back pain, for many years and the period 2001-02 to 2005-06 has seen a drop in estimated working days lost to MSDs from 11.8 million to 9.45 million.

Better Backs Campaign

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Better Backs campaign has cost.

Anne McGuire: The Better Backs media campaigns, in 2005 and 2006, cost HSE 2.2 million and 2.5 million respectively. The corresponding stakeholder and workplace inspection campaigns accounted for some 3.2 million of HSE resource over the two years.

Departments: Internet

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Better Backs website has cost to administer since inception.

Anne McGuire: The internal HSE costs for maintaining the site from May 2005 to April 2007 amount to 21.000. The initial development and set-up costs through external suppliers (already included in the campaign costs indicated in the answer to PQ 133910) amount to 100,000. The dedicated site generated over 180,000 direct visits.

Departments: Internet

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many user visits the Better Backs website has received since inception.

Anne McGuire: The two 'Better backs' campaigns used dedicated websites working closely with key areas of HSE's main website. Visits to the specific Better Backs' sites amounted to 182,191 over the two year period, visits to other parts of the site that can be attributed directly to the campaign effect add around another 180,000.

Departments: Internet

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for which Government websites he is responsible; how many visitors each received in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the cost  (a) was of establishing and  (b) has been of maintaining each site.

James Purnell: The following tables outline the information available about the Department of Work and Pensions website's visitor's figures and costs for site establishment and maintenance.
	Web statistics have been shown where available without incurring disproportionate costs. Statistics are only available from 2004-05.
	Production, management and maintenance of DWP websites is carried out by the Department's own in-house E-Communications team. It is not possible to quantify internal costs for each site but contracted and quantifiable costs have been included where possible. Contracted and quantifiable costs include payments to suppliers for services such as research, user testing and site builds, and payments to interim personnel.
	DWP is reviewing all its websites in line with Cabinet Office rationalisation guidance. The department is committed to website rationalisation and many of these sites will eventually close. Migration plans are currently being developed.
	Table A lists those websites operated by Department for Work and Pensions where the department is responsible for the content:
	
		
			  Website name and address   Visitors  Unique visitors  Contracted and quantifiable costs 
			 Department for Work and Pensions www.dwo.gov.uk 2006-07 8,418,356 4,378,336 8,116 
			  2005-06 6,643,210  1,954 
			  2004-05 5,299,898  101,467 
			  2003-04   0 
			  2002-03   0 
			  2001-02   48,143 
			  2000-01   152,000 (DSS) 
			 Jobcentre Plus www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk 2006-07 84,766,255 Unique ip's 34,226,575 Unique visitorspage tagging 47,201,253  
			  2005-06 49,363,9 70  17,183,000 
			  2004-05 29,014,0 15   
			 The Pension Service www.thepensionservice.gov.uk 2006-07 3,419,414 1,749,368  
			  2005-06 1,373,990  182,000 
			  2004-05 935,152  0 
			  2003-04   186,950 
			  2002-03   188,093 
			  2001-02   237,577 
			 Child Support Agency www.csa.gov.uk 2006-07 1,587,319 760,189 0 
			  2005-06 1,388,170  31,000 
			  2004-05 1,266,743  0 
			 Directgov Disabled People and Carers Sections www.direct.gov.uk/disability 2005-06   500,000 
			 www.direct.gov.uk/carers 2004-05   750,000 
			 Directgov Over 50s Section www.direct.gov.uk/over50s 2005-06   145,553 
			 Directgov Jobseekers www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Jobseekers0 
			 Age Positive 2006-07 430,511 327,650 0 
			 www.aaeoositive.aov.uk 2005-06 984,229 (10 months)   
			  2004-05 1,137,532  0 
			 Benefit Fraud Inspectorate www.bfi.gov.uk 2006-07 176,160 68,451 0 
			 Office for Disability Issues www.officefordisability.gov.uk 2006-07 93,016 30,773 46,000 
			 European Social Fund www.esf.gov.uk 2006-07 300,497 133,324 0 
			  2005-06 294,253  41,000 
			  2004-05 392,038  0 
			 Rent Service www.therentservice.gov.uk 2006-07 250,000   
		
	
	Table B lists those websites operated by the Department for Work and Pensions where the department is not responsible for the content:
	
		
			  Website name and address  Visitors (2006-07)  Unique visitors  Contracted and quantifiable costs 
			 Disability Employment Advisory Committee www.deac.org.uk 10,299 3,544 0 
			 Disability Living Allowance Advisory Board www.dlaab.org.uk 25,719 12,747 0 
			 Employer Task Force www.employertaskforce.org.uk   The costs for this site is included in the figure for the Pension Service in Table A 
			 Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force www.emetaskforce.gov.uk   0 
			 Images of Disability www.imagesofdisability.gov.uk 51, 573 (visits) 21,171 0 
			 Independent Case Examiner www.ind-case-exam.org.uk 33,499 11,890 0 
			 Industrial Injuries Advisory Council www.iiac.org.uk 47,777 18,703 0 
			 National Employment Panel www.nationalemploymentpanel.gov.uk   0 
			 Pensions At Work www.pensionsatwork.org 51,294 19,011 The costs for this site is included in the figure for the Pension Service in Table A 
			 Pensions Commission www.pensionscommission.ora.uk  35,699 The costs for this site is included in the figure for the Pension Service in Table A 
			 Fair Cities www.faircities.net   0 
			 Social Security Advisory Committee www.ssac.ora.uk 31,264 9,842 0 
		
	
	The following websites have been built by DWP but are managed independently so no financial or statistical information is available:
	Health and Safety Executive
	Independent Living Funds
	Pension Protection Fund
	Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman
	Pensions Ombudsman
	Remploy
	The Pensions Regulator
	The Pensions Advisory Service
	Disability Rights Commission

Departments: Personal Data

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of individuals whose personal data has been stolen from his Department and its executive agencies in each of the last five years.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is not available and no such estimate has been made. However, in 2004 personal information relating to approximately 8,800 staff was stolen.

Departments: Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average per capita payment of those leaving his Department under voluntary early release schemes promoted by the Gershon efficiency review was in each year since 2004; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 19 April 2007
	Information on the numbers of staff leaving the Department, the annual expenditure and the average cost for each member of staff since 2004 is in the following table. The information relates solely to staff leaving on early release relating to the Gershon review.
	Where staff have left the Department on voluntary early retirement terms, the figures include provisions for all pension payments to age 60.
	
		
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Actual/forecast expenditure ( million) 30 1 72.8 61 .68 
			 Number of staff exits by full-time equivalent (FTE) 570 2,965 1,354 
			 Average staff exit per full-time equivalent (FTE) () 52,600 58,300 45,600

Departments: Wales

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Department of Work and Pensions offices in Wales  (a) opened and  (b) closed in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The following list details offices that have opened and closed since 1998. Information for 1997 is not available as it is not held centrally and to collate it would incur a disproportionate cost.
	 (a) Offices opened
	 1998
	CardiffCharles Street
	 1999
	CwmbranGwent Square
	Machynlleth43-45 Gwyn Street
	Newport Unit21 Enterprise Park
	PwlleliCardiff Road
	 2000
	CardiffGolate House St. Mary Street
	CardiffSouthgate House Wood Street
	 2002
	SwanseaUnits 1-4 Waterside Business Park
	Wrexham1 Rhyd-Broughton Lane
	 2003
	AberdareCrown Buildings Greenbach
	Pembroke DockCleddau Bridge Business Park
	 2005
	Porth35 Hannah Street
	 2006
	BangerGladman Unit Parc Menai
	 (b) Offices closed
	 1998
	BreconCrown Building 48 Free Street
	CardiffHayes House The Hayes
	CardiffWestgate Street
	WrexhamCB31 Chester Street
	 1999
	CwmbranDyfed House
	MachynllethLiverpool House
	NeathGnoll Park Road
	Port Talbot29 Ynys Street
	PwllhelliNew Street
	 2000
	PenygroesOld Town Hall
	SwanseaTy Bryn Glas, Powell Street
	 2001
	WrexhamHightown Barracks, Kingsmill Road
	CarmarthenPicton Terrace (MEC)
	 2003
	LlangollenCastle Street
	Shotton PCOVictoria Buildings Victoria Road
	PwllheliThe Emporium Penlan Street
	Tumble84 Bethesda Road
	Shotton85 Chester Road West
	LlangefniArcadia Buildings Bridge Street
	Aberdare4 Victoria Square
	TonypandyCrown Buildings River View
	 2004
	CardiffUnits 1 and 2 Western Avenue
	Beaumaris Masonic ChambersMargaret Street
	Llangefni33-35 High Street
	Newtown LadywellHouse Park Street
	Llantwit MajorHayes Rooms Townhall Square
	BarmouthPost Office Buildings King Edward Street
	HolyheadNew Crown Building Park Street
	Blaenau Ffestiniog46 High Street
	 2005
	Forth33-34 Hannah Street
	TonyrefailCrown Buildings Duffryn Terrace
	Ferndale69A High Street
	Llandrindod WellsGovernment Buildings Spa Road East
	Cardiff4th Floor 1 Bridge Street
	Colwyn BayGovernment Buildings Dinerth Road Rhos on Sea (MSEC)
	Merthyr Tydfil1 Glebeland Street
	Treharris3 Bargoed Terrace
	Swansea16 Station Road Cymmer
	Glynneath16 High Street
	Port TalbotCymric House Bethany Square
	 2006
	Ystrad Mynach22 Penallta Road
	NeathPercival House 119 London Road
	Garnant26 Dynevor Road
	Brynmawr114 Worcester Street
	Haverfordwest1 Cherry Grove
	HolywellCrown Buildings Coleshill Street
	Prestatyn129 High Street
	Denbigh34-36 Vale Street
	FishguardCrown Buildings Brodog Lane
	Llandeilo1 King Street
	LlanrwstBradford House 6 Denbigh Street
	TenbyRuabon House South Parade
	HaverfordwestWinchway House Winch Lane
	Rhyl64 Brighton Road
	BarryProvincial House Kendrick Road
	FlintFlint House Chapel Street (Deeside)
	Swansea25 High Street Pontardawe
	Pembroke DockDevonshire Road Llanion Park
	WrexhamCrane Street Cefn Mawr
	Llangollen32 Castle Street
	Wrexham1-2 Imperial Buildings King Street
	NewportUnit 21 Enterprise Park
	Conwy13 High Street
	LlandysulBizerta House Wind Street
	CardiffOxford House Hills Street The Hayes
	Blackwood81-81A High Street
	NewbridgeAshfield Road
	Wrexham16 Lord Street
	BargoedOldway House Gilfach Street
	PontlottynCrown Building 10 River Road
	Risca66-67 Tredegar Street
	Swansea52-54 Woodfield Street Morriston
	 2007
	AmmanfordCrown Buildings Hall Street
	SwanseaOldway House Rutland Place
	CarmarthenTy Myrddin Dan y Bank Road

Financial Assistance Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the new cap of 26,000 for assistance from the financial assistance scheme will be uprated in line with inflation.

James Purnell: The extension to the FAS announced in March means that we will be helping many more members over a greater length of time. Because of the extension the payment assessment rules may need to be revised to help ensure we determine FAS payments consistently for all members. We intend to ensure that the cap retains its value, even where assessments are made for members who will not be eligible for payment until many years into the future. We are looking at the best way to achieve this objective and details will be published in draft regulations for consultation.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many former Allied Steel and Wire workers have received  (a) 80 per cent.,  (b) 65 per cent. and  (c) 50 per cent. of their expected core pension under the Financial Assistance Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: There are two ASW pension schemes that qualify for the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS). FAS cannot make annual payments at 80 per cent. until the ASW pension schemes have completed the wind up process. In the meantime, initial payments at 60 per cent. of expected core pension are being made to 31 members of the ASW Pension Plan (Cardiff) and three members of the ASW Sheerness Steel Group Pension Fund. The current Pensions Bill will raise the level at which initial payments are made to 80 per cent. with immediate effect from Royal Assent. No payments are being made at the rates of 80 per cent., 65 per cent. and 50 per cent.
	As FAS payments commence at age 65, (except in special circumstances where early access to payments can be applied for by scheme trustees for terminally ill qualifying members or to the survivor of a qualifying member), under the current scheme no-one would be expected to start receiving payments at the rate of 65 per cent. or 50 per cent. until at least 15 May 2011 or 15 May 2015 respectively. However our announcement of increased funding for FAS will ensure that by then all will receive 80 per cent.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the  (a) average,  (b) highest and  (c) lowest payment has been under the Financial Assistance Scheme to former Allied Steel and Wire workers living (i) in and (ii) outside Wales; and if he will make a statement.

James Purnell: There are two ASW pension schemes which qualify for FAS, the ASW Pension Plan (Cardiff) and the ASW Sheerness Steel Group Pension Fund. The following figures relate to individual member/survivor payments of gross payments per annum (inclusive of tax but not including arrears).
	
		
			  ASW Pension Plan (Cardiff) (32 members) 
			   Amount () 
			 Highest payment 7,557.72 
			 Lowest payment 399.24 
			 Average payment 2,578.71 
		
	
	
		
			  ASW Sheerness Steel Group Pension Fund (3 members) 
			   Amount () 
			 Highest payment 2,606.52 
			 Lowest payment 726.92 
			 Average payment 1,684.08 
		
	
	
		
			  Members/survivors living in Wales (30 members) 
			   Amount () 
			 Highest payment 7,557.72 
			 Lowest payment 399.24 
			 Average payment 2,537.18 
		
	
	
		
			  Members/survivors living outside Wales (5 members) 
			   Amount () 
			 Highest payment 2,606.52 
			 Lowest payment 635.76 
			 Average payment 1,280.68

Housing Benefit: Costs

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of housing benefit in each year since the scheme was introduced.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 18 May 2007
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Housing benefit expenditure 
			   millions 
			   Cash  2007-08 prices  Status of Data 
			 1988-89 3,757 6,896 Outturn 
			 1989-90 4,258 7,293 Outturn 
			 1990-91 5,106 8,109 Outturn 
			 1991-92 6,363 9,523 Outturn 
			 1992-93 7,814 11,330 Outturn 
			 1993-94 9,218 13,026 Outturn 
			 1994-95 10,104 14,065 Outturn 
			 1995-96 10,876 14,693 Outturn 
			 1996-97 11,380 14,873 Outturn 
			 1997-98 11,176 14,194 Outturn 
			 1998-99 11,065 13,705 Outturn 
			 1999-2000 11,066 13,434 Outturn 
			 2000-01 11,166 13,368 Outturn 
			 2001-02 11,589 13,552 Outturn 
			 2002-03 12,637 14,334 Outturn 
			 2003-04 12,345 13,599 Outturn 
			 2004-05 13,172 14,121 Outturn 
			 2005-06 13,947 14,678 Outturn 
			 2006-07 14,675 15,071 Estimated Outturn 
			 2007-08 15,526 15,526 Plans 
			  Notes: All figures are consistent with the 2007 Budget report. Figures have been rounded to the nearest million pounds.   Source: DWP benefit expenditure tables (Tables 3, 3a, 4, and 4a).

Industrial Health and Safety: Agriculture

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of the Gangmasters Act 2004 on deaths and injuries at work in the agriculture sector; and what evidence the Government has received of agricultural gangmasters moving to unregulated sectors.

Anne McGuire: Fatal and non-fatal accidents in industries for which the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the enforcing authority, including agriculture, are reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). Records show that one fatal accident involving a worker supplied by a gangmaster was reported in 2005-06. No work-related fatal accident involving a worker supplied by a gangmaster was reported in 2006-07.
	RIDDOR does not require employers to record an injured worker's employment status when reporting an accident, so it is extremely difficult to identify injuries to casual and temporary workers supplied by gangmasters from accidents reported to HSE with any degree of accuracy.
	There is no specific evidence of the extent to which gangmasters are moving to unregulated sectors. However, there is clear evidence that some gangmasters supply into several sectors. There is also evidence that gangmasters whose Gangmaster Licensing Authority (GLA) licences have been revoked are still trading.
	The GLA has commissioned work to measure the impact of the licensing arrangements, including impact on the number of gangmasters. The initial results will be published in late 2007.

Industrial Health and Safety: Sonae (UK)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many enforcement notices were issued by the Health and Safety Executive to Sonae (UK) Ltd. in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many enforcement notices were issued by the Health and Safety Executive to Sonae (UK) Ltd. in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: There have been no enforcement notices issued by the Health and Safety Executive in the last four years against Sonae (UK) Ltd. at the Knowsley site.

Industrial Health and Safety: Sonae (UK)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the cause of the incident at the Sonae factory in Kirkby in February 2007.

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the cause of the incident at the Sonae factory in Kirkby in February 2007.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive has undertaken a thorough investigation of the fire at Sonae (UK) Ltd. on 20 February 2007 and has determined that this fire was caused by the catastrophic failure of either a mechanical seal or an impeller on pump number two in the thermal oil manifold room. This resulted in hot oil being discharged into the manifold room and the oil was ignited when it came into contact with a hot surface, either the handle on one of the pump valves or the impeller casing. Sonae's fire precautions were effective in limiting the consequences of the fire, despite the existence of a previously unknown void between the wall of the manifold room and the external cladding. The damage to the plant control room resulted from smoke and hot gases breaching this void, although such damage was limited to plant and equipment. There was no loss of life or injury.

Industrial Health and Safety: Sonae (UK)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations reports were made by Sonae (UK) Ltd. in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many lost time accidents were reported by Sonae (UK) Ltd. in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many incidents reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 were made by Sonae (UK) Ltd. in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many lost time accidents were reported by Sonae (UK) Ltd. in each of the last four years; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: There have been 27 reports made by Sonae (UK) Ltd. in the last four years under the requirements of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995. The distribution of these reports are detailed in the following table.
	
		
			   Deaths  Major injury  Ove r  3 day accidents  Dangerous occurrences  Total 
			 2003-04 0 4 5 1 10 
			 2004-05 0 2 3 0 5 
			 2005-06 0 2 1 0 3 
			 2006-07 0 0 8 1 9 
			 Total 0 8 17 2 27 
		
	
	There is no requirement to report lost time accidents to the Health and Safety Executive, other than those required to be reported under RIDDOR.

IT Projects

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which information technology projects are being undertaken by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies; what the (i) start date, (ii) original planned completion date, (iii) expected completion date, (iv) originally planned costs and (v) estimated costs are of each; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: Although the Department does not have any discrete IT projects, it has a number of projects and programmes which include changes to IT to a greater or lesser extent. We have included in the following table:
	those current projects and programmes undertaken by the Department where the IT element of the project or programme results in the development and/or implementation of services that underpin the delivery of departmental business, and
	where non-delivery of the IT element would significantly damage the project's or programme's ability to deliver its intended results.
	For all programmes or projects with the exception of CSA Operational Improvement Plan the costs and dates reported relate to the total project or programme and not only the IT element. In the case of CSA OIP which is an operational improvement programme only the IT element costs and delivery timelines are recorded in the table.
	The table shows information on their purpose, start date, original planned completion date, expected completion date, originally planned costs and estimated costs.
	It should be noted that the scope of projects change as they pass through the project lifecycle and as plans and costs become more robust. At each stage of this process they are checked to ensure that they continue to fit with Departmental strategy and continue to deliver value for money.
	
		
			  Project  Purpose  Start Date (i)  Original Planned Completion Date (ii)  Expected Completion Date (iii)  Originally Planned Costs (iv) ( million)  Estimated Costs (v) ( million) 
			 Pensions Transformation Projectsee note 4 The programme will transform The Pension Service, bringing together business and IT change in ways that improve customer service and deliver efficiencies. January 2002 March 2007 2010/11 429 829 
			 Customer Information System This project will deliver a database of key citizen information to be shared across DWP. The database will complement information currently available in the Department's key customer information systems, i.e. Personal Details Computer System and Departmental Central Index, and become their replacement. 15 July 2003 September 2007 February 2008 40 83 
			
			 The Document Repository Service This project seeks to support the Department's modernisation programmes for GB  NI (Disability Carers Service (DCS), Jobcentre Plus (JCP), Pension Service (TPS) and The Child Support Agency (CSA)) through the provision of a document repository to store digitised images of documents received from customers (letters, faxes, e-mails etc.) July 2006 November 2008 November 2008 6 5 
			
			 Real Time Pensions Forecasts (RTPF)Strategic Alignment To strategically align the RPTF e-service by utilising the Retirement Planner Project (RPP) solution (with RTPF service 'ring-fenced') and moving to the Corporate Integration Backbone (CIB) and Distributed Known Facts model. May 2006 February 2007 May 2007 1 1 
			
			 State Pension Deferral Project To identify, co-ordinate, assure, communicate and deliver changes to business systems and process, within timescales, to secure the introduction of changes to State Pension deferral rules. April 2004 April 2006 April 2007 7 6 
			 Resource Management This programme will provide modernised HR, financial and procurement functions for DWP staff. It will introduce significant business process change, enabling departmental resources to be managed more effectively. April 2001 April 2005 June 2007 96 208 
			
			 Central Payments System (formerly part of Payment Modernisation) A modern integrated central payment engine and accounts payable system to improve accounting for benefit/pension payments, reduce risks of service failure, increased speed and efficiency, and information for improved customer service and reduced fraud and error. April 2004 October 2006 December 2010 90 141 
			
			 Customer Management System (previously known as Working Age Services Modernisation Project (WASMP) The CMS releases develop and implement a new front-end data gathering system for primary Jobcentre Plus benefit processing systems, including auto-transfer of data. January 2001 April 2008 April 2008 252 266 
			
			 Employment and Support Allowance The project delivers the system and processes to implement the new ESA allowance. August 2006 October 2008 October 2008 295 295 
			
			 WATCh2 WATCh 2 will develop and deliver a modern, flexible, (COTS, Siebel-based) IT platform in support of business prioritiesincluding improving services for employers and improved programme protection. November 2004 October 2006 June 2007 68 91 
			
			 HR IS/IT programme Following the merger of the Employment Service and the Benefits Agency Human Resources functions the DWP HR organisation is undergoing modernisation and moving from a centralised, old-style personnel function to a new outward facing HR Group. This includes changing how DWP delivers policies and services. The HR IS/IT Programme contributes to the delivery of these improvements ensuring its operation is efficient and effective and supports Departments learning and leadership objectives. June 2003 March 2006 March 2008 63 62 
			
			 On Time Solution Provide a range of improved information services to DWP businesses, including improved quicker Management Information, Fraud and Error intervention and analysis. March 2006 March 2011 March 2011 11 11 
			
			 Operational Improvement Plan (see note 5) Operational and organisational restructuring of the Child Support Agency to deliver more money to more children. April 2006 April 2009 April 2009 107 107 
			  Notes:  1. Original planned completion date and originally planned completion costs are the date and costs agreed to by the relevant departmental management committee at the time the project or programme passed through Gate zero (or an equivalent process) of the Department's governance procedures. We expect these to change as costs and timelines become clearer through the lifetime of the project. We continually review costs at the appropriate governance points to ensure that they continue to deliver value for money.  2. The costs above represent the costs of implementing the particular project and programme. Costs of running the solutions implemented by the projects and programmes are not included above as they are more than compensated for by the savings they generate. These savings are demonstrated in the recent NAO report The Efficiency programme: A Second Review of Progress.  3. In addition to the above projects and programmes Electronic Registered Files is undertaking a pilot and a review of this project will be carried out once the pilot is completed.  4. When first conceived the Pensions Transformation Programme was to be funded by way of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangement. During the early stages of development, best practice for financing the programme indicated that PFI was no longer the appropriate financing method and thus it was decided to use departmental funds. Financing the development using departmental funds has the effect of increasing the development costs of the programme while reducing the operating cost of the programme by a similar amount. Thus the actual amount of money committed to the programme is broadly the same.  5. The Child Support Agency Operational Improvement Plan is a business recovery programme and is not a change project in the normal sense of the word. The focus of the programme is the organisational and operational restructuring of the Agency to deliver significant performance improvements and get more money to parents, it specifically aims to tackle the key area of debt, compliance and enforcement. Over a three year period the programme will design, develop and implement, process and organisational change underpinned by continuing remediation of existing computer systems and the introduction of further IT enhancements.

Jobcentre Plus: Standards

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of mystery shopper exercises at Jobcentre Plus.

Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 21 May 2007:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of mystery shopper exercises at Jobcentre Plus. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Mystery Shopping is an established method, used by thousands of businesses across the UK, to provide an independent assessment of customer service. It is an important way in which Jobcentre Plus assesses the service it provides to customers, but it is not the only approach used. For example, the Average Actual Clearance Times target measures customer service in terms of benefit clearance times and Jobcentre Plus also conducts customer surveys and acts upon feedback received from individuals, partners and other stakeholders.
	The Mystery Shopping programme is one part of the Customer Service Target, which measures performance against the Jobcentre Plus Service Standards. It includes measures of the quality of service provided in key face to face and telephone contacts. The timing of calls to sites is random and can be at any time during business hours so staff do not know when they may be visited or called. Results from the Mystery Shopping Programme are published on the Jobcentre Plus website.
	The effectiveness of the Mystery Shopping Programme is regularly assessed within Jobcentre Plus and with the contracted supplier, GfK. The assessment process includes listening to telephone calls and carrying out a series of six accompanied visits per quarter with the independent assessors. This may result in changes to the wording of particular questions to increase clarity and understanding. In addition, when new programmes are introduced, or in response to customer or stakeholder feedback, new scenarios may be developed to test staff knowledge. As a result of these reviews the number and range of scenarios used by the independent assessors was gradually increased in 2006/07.
	Results from the mystery shopping programme are used to identify areas for improvement and where further learning and development may be required, either nationally or in particular sites. In the first quarter of 2006/07 national Customer Service Target performance was 1.2 percentage points below profile and, to address this, a number of measures were put in place that had been identified by the Mystery Shopping process. These included the introduction of an A to Z guidance tool which provides information on the policies and programmes that customers (or mystery shoppers) may enquire about, which we expect our staff to understand.
	It is still Jobcentre Plus' intention to provide feedback to sites at the earliest opportunity, via the supplier's (GfK) website. Feedback is an important part of mystery shopping as it helps staff and managers to understand where they need to do better in the service they provide dealing with customer enquiries. It enables Business Delivery Unit/District Performance Managers to identify local learning and development needs, or other remedial action, to ensure that the best possible service is maintained for all customers.
	For 2007/08 further changes have been introduced to strengthen and improve the mystery element by further increasing the number and range of scenarios, varying the way the questions are asked and changing the way feedback is provided.
	I hope this is helpful.

Members: Correspondence

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to reply to the letter of 26 February from the hon. Member for North East Milton Keynes' constituent Mr. R Taylor of Hadley Place, Milton Keynes.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 23 April 2007
	I replied to the hon. Member's constituent's letter on 30 April 2007.

National Insurance: Foreigners

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance numbers were given to non-UK nationals each year since 1992, broken down by nationality.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available prior to April 2002. The available information broken down by country of origin has been placed in the Library.

Pension Service

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many customer visits were carried out by the Pension Service local teams in each year since 2002.

James Purnell: No data are available for 2002-03 and 2003-04 years for customer visits carried out by The Pension Service local teams as national figures were not maintained for this period.
	Data for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 are in the following table
	
		
			   Total number of visits  Total number of positive outcomes 
			 2004-05 805,390 202,930 
			 2005-06 1,250,420 223,180 
			 2006-07 1,071,480 295,100 
			  Notes:  1. A positive outcome refers to applications for benefit that have resulted in a monetary award of benefit to the customer.  2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Pensions: Compensation

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the cost of providing compensation to members of pension schemes with a solvent employer who have lost pension savings at  (a) financial assistance scheme levels and  (b) pension protection fund levels in (i) cash terms and (ii) net present value terms.

James Purnell: The total number of pension schemes with solvent employers which have commenced winding-up is not known, so we are unable to provide any estimates relating to members of such schemes, other than for those we are aware of with compromise agreements.
	We estimate that the cost of providing assistance at the levels requested to members of pension schemes which have reached a compromise agreement is as follows:
	 (a) (i) 570 million at Financial Assistance Scheme rates in cash terms.
	(ii) 130 million at Financial Assistance Scheme rates in NPV terms.
	 (b)(i) 760 million at Pension Protection Fund levels in cash terms.
	(ii) 180 million at Pension Protection Fund levels in NPV terms.

Pensions: Females

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures he has put in place to deal with the additional workload in his Department arising from women born in 1947 reaching pension age.

James Purnell: Our workload volumes forecasts take account of published population projections, provided by the Government Actuary's Department, as well as the impact of current and planned policy initiatives, including state pension deferral and state pension reform. Any female population growth from 1947 will therefore be factored into our state pension and pension credit workload forecasts from 2007.
	This information is then used to calculate and plan the resources required to administer forecast workloads. This, and other factors such as planned productivity improvements brought about through our transformation programme, will be factored into long term planning. Decisions about budgets and workforce deployment take into account affordability, value for money and the different priorities of our key customer groups. The process for ensuring sufficient resources are in place to handle any increase in workload is robust and staffing allocations are made to maintain a high standard of customer service.

Pensions: Insolvency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the number of pension schemes in wind-up with a solvent employer which signed compromise agreements after 2005 which do not qualify for assistance from the Pensions Protection Fund or the financial assistance scheme as proposed to be amended by the Pensions Bill; and what his estimate is of the number of members in these schemes.

James Purnell: Information on the number of compromise agreements entered into by trustees and employers after 2005 is unavailable. However, since 2005, employers that are considering entering into a compromise agreement with their pension scheme may obtain assurance in the form of a clearance statement from the Pensions Regulator that a contribution notice or financial support direction will not be issued later in respect of that agreement. In general terms the Regulator will not issue clearance statements where compromise agreements render schemes ineligible for the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

Public Spaces: Accidents

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many legal actions brought against local and central government authorities as a consequence of accidents in  (a) publicly administered space and  (b) play areas in the last 12 months involved (i) under-18s and (ii) under-16s.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for enforcing health and safety legislation in relation to local and central Government. HSE brought one case against a local authority in 2006-07, as a consequence of accidents to persons under 16. There were no other cases involving under-18s.

Public Spaces: Accidents

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many legal actions were brought against local and central Government authorities as a consequence of accidents in play areas in each year since 1997.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for enforcing health and safety legislation in relation to local and central Government. In the 10 years from 1997-2008 to 2006-07, it brought 16 cases against local authorities following accidents to persons under the age of 18 in playgrounds, sports areas, swimming pools, and public parks.

Social Fund Community Care Grant

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average Social Fund Community Care Grant award was in  (a) England and  (b) each region in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Social fund community care grants 
			   
			   Average initial award 
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			 England 407 418 
		
	
	
		
			  Social fund community care grants by region 
			   
			   Average initial award 
			  Government office region  2005-06  2006-07 
			 East of England 413 445 
			 East Midlands 416 452 
			 London 483 460 
			 North East 349 353 
			 North West 375 402 
			 Scotland 408 449 
			 South East 413 403 
			 South West 371 381 
			 Wales 381 393 
			 West Midlands 397 405 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 406 425 
			  Note: Awards made after review are not included.  Source:  DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.

Social Fund Community Care Grant

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact of the real terms reduction in the Social Fund Community Care Grant budget on the resettlement of homeless people.

James Plaskitt: No such specific assessment has been made or is planned.
	The Community Care Grant budget is now 41 per cent. higher in cash terms than in 2000-01 and represents an increase of 18 per cent. in real terms. It is available to meet the wide-ranging needs of all vulnerable groups, including the resettlement of homeless people.

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on British accession to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Anne McGuire: On 30 March I signed this convention on behalf of the United Kingdom at a signature ceremony organised by the United Nations at its New York headquarters. A total of 92 countries, nearly half of all UN member states, have now signed the convention. The objective of the convention is to secure for the estimated 650 million disabled people around the world their human rights on an equal basis with non-disabled people. Our signature of the convention signifies the UK's strong support for human rights at home and abroad and our intention to ratify the convention without undue delay.